On Tuesday, April 18, a group of retired officers were on Capitol Hill advocating for passage of a wide-ranging nutrition bill that aims to make the nation’s school lunches healthier.
“Too fat to fight? Many American children are so overweight from being fed French fries, pizza and other unhealthy foods at school lunchrooms that they cannot handle the physical rigors of being in the military.” -- New Report Issued by Retired Military Officers“National security is threatened by the sharp rise in obesity rates for young people over the last 15 years”, the report says. This jeopardizes the military’s ability to fill its ranks. In a report released Tuesday, the group says that “9 million young adults, or 27 percent of all Americans ages 17 to 24, are too fat to join the military.” “When over a quarter of young adults are too fat to fight, we need to take notice” said retired Navy Rear Admiral James Barnett Jr., a member of the officers group. He went on to say that “national security in the year 2030 is absolutely dependent” on reversing child obesity rates. Recruitment isn’t the only problem posed by obesity according to the report. The government spends tens of millions of dollars every year to train replacements for service members discharged because of weight problems. The group is urging Congress to eliminate junk food and high calorie beverages from schools, put more money into the school lunch program and develop new strategies that help children develop healthier habits. Just the other day I was in the Hallelujah Acres Café greeting diners and there was a family of three I spoke with. They shared how the entire family had adopted the Hallelujah Acres Diet and Lifestyle just a month prior and already their 15-year-old son had lost 12 pounds, while Mom and Dad had lost similar amounts of weight and how much better the entire family was feeling. Dear parents, do you know what your children are eating and drinking while away from home? Are you aware that because of the consuming of so much sugar in soft drinks, candy, sugar desserts, and animal fat, fat coming from burgers and chicken, obesity is becoming an epidemic among the youth of America? The situation is so bad that by the age of four, the average child is already showing fat build up upon their artery walls. As this high sugar and fat diet continues during their school years, is it any wonder that as the fat build-up continues it obstructs blood flow, raising blood pressure. Then comes the blood pressure medications, followed by stents, by-passes, and eventually a stroke or heart attack – too often life-ending. I learned just the other day of a 17-year-old boy who dropped dead from a heart attack. Friends, what your children eat, not just while away from home, but also at home, has the potential of not only making them fat, but also ending their life prematurely. Please love your children enough to train them in the right way of eating. And while you are at it, consider what you are eating also. My dad had his first heart attack at age 42, when I was but 7-years-old. I never had the privilege of playing sports with my dad, because from that time on, my dad was unable to do anything that required exertion.
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
