US youth 'too fat' for battle

Sun, 02 May 2010 07:18:00 GMT

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=125148&sectionid=3510203

Veteran top brass in the United States military have called on Capitol Hill to change diet habits of American youngsters, saying that the country's youth are too fat to fight.

John Shalikashvili and Hugh Shelton, the ex-commanders of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in the Washington Post on May 1 that "obesity rates threaten the overall health of America and the future strength of our military."

"We consider this problem so serious from a national security perspective that we have joined more than 130 other retired generals, admirals and senior military leaders in calling on Congress to pass new child nutrition legislation," they added.

The warning comes amid mounting fears that childhood obesity has turned into a national "epidemic" affecting one in three young Americans, the BBC reported.

The US passed post-school lunch laws in 1946 in a bid to build strong future soldiers.

"We must act, as we did after World War II, to ensure that our children can one day defend our country, if need be," the retired generals said, drawing on the post-war law.