The paper the other day had an article about the danger to national security of overweight children, saying that 27 % of all Americans "are too fat to join the military". The military is now pushing for a change in the school lunch program to address this issue. The article includes the following interesting comment. "During World War II, military leaders had the opposite problem, reporting that many recruits were rejected because of stunted growth and inadequate nutrition. After the war, military leaders pushed congress to establish the national school lunch program so children would grow up healthier...the program was established in 1946". Now the military wants changes made in the "junk food and high-calorie beverages" now in many public schools.
(Source: "Security threats" by Mary Clare Jalonick of The AP. In The Virginian Pilot on 4/21/10).
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