Big Fat Starving Nation
In my previous article we noted that more than 45 million Americans are now on food stamps.
The irony of the above statistic is that even though more Americans than ever seem to need food stamps to keep from starving, at the same time we are also the fattest slobs in the world.
Back in 1946 President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act to make sure children had enough to eat every day - military recruits were being turned down because they were too thin. Today more than a quarter of prospective recruits are not able to enlist because they are too fat. (1)
This deserves a big WTF!
ENDNOTES
(1):
cleveland.com, 5 Apr 2010, Americans are consuming more calories than ever: Fighting Fat
One of the most common reasons recruits are turned down now is because they weigh too much by military standards, according to Mission: Readiness, a nonprofit group of retired military leaders who want to make sure children have career options, including military service, when they grow up.
A statement the group released in February says that 27 percent of prospective recruits are not able to enlist because they are overweight.
...
America's lawmakers need to take action, the way they did in 1946, she says, to ensure sufficient troop strength.
That was the year President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act to make sure children had enough to eat every day. Back then, recruits were being turned down because they didn't weigh enough.
