> A new study from the Pentagon shows that 77% of young Americans would not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, using drugs or having mental and physical health problems.
> https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/09/28/new-pentagon-...
Obviously physical and mental health problems are a lot more significant but I would imagine that weight is by far the factor that impacts the most people here.
Note that 44% of people are disqualified for multiple reasons. The big disqualifiers are :
Overweight 35%
Medical/Physical 33%
Drug Abuse 32%
Mental Health 25%
> The United States has the 12th highest obesity rate in the world at 36.2%
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/obesity-r...
Weight loss drug then exercise? That could be a good idea, i think it's easier to readapt/recover from bad joints before 25.
I was a fat kid with an actual joint disorder (that would never allow me to be in the military), but I lost a lot of weight via marching band in high school while eating double cheeseburgers heartily throughout; there was a lot of fast food nearby. I've also gained and lost weight several times in life but have to tailor my exercise to an extreme to accommodate my disability. That is to say, I can't imagine life with good joints, but I've still managed things somewhat.
If I was actually setting up a sort of pre-boot program, it would indeed feature low-impact exercise and carefully controlled diet for a few months. Weight loss drugs are still a bit new, but I could absolutely see them having a place in such a program.
That is why slowly building up slow running speed for long distances, such as 6 miles or more, is vital for improving physical health. It’s not about just the cardio. It’s about strengthening the entire body.
Cheating that and immediately pushing for speed gets people injured.
Or is it a cultural thing? Obesity doesn't need to have the same cultural stigma seen globally.
Another well known historical signifier for wealth was fair skin. As you wouldn’t get a tan if you didn’t have to labour out in the sun.
Also, they are poor countries who can't produce the food they need for multiple reason (sometime it's population, but often it's mining/industrial pollution related) and they have to import the cheapest food available, ie leftover from US (and recently China) food processing.
If you've ever interacted with veterans, it's pretty laughable that they are going to "become the new elite". The elite in America has been and will continue to be people who go to ivy league schools for business, finance, or law and then find jobs in wall street, banks, media, and government.