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A study released today in Washington warns that young Americans are increasingly unfit to serve in the military. The primary reason is they’re overweight. The World’s Katy Clark reports.

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MARCO WERMAN:  President Obama will soon decide whether to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan, as troops are available, if and when they’re needed.  But in the future, such a request might be more difficult to fulfill.  A new report out today shows that large numbers of young Americans are unfit for military service.  One of the main reasons for this is obesity.  Here is The World’s Katy Clark:

KATY CLARK:  According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost one in four young Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 is obese.  That’s up from one in twenty a generation ago.  Now America’s obesity crisis is no longer headline news.  What is new though is the connection that some people are making between obesity and national security.  Retired Rear Admiral, Jamie Barnett is part of a group of former military leaders who released a report today on the declined military readiness of today’s youth.

JAMIE BARNETT:  We realize that it’s unusual for retired admirals, generals and other military leaders to step on this, but we want to be unexpected messengers to talk about this as a national security matter.

CLARK:  Barnett says obesity and national security might not seem directly related but he says a world class military ten or twenty years down the road requires a more intensive focus on physical health today.

BARNETT:  We’re calling on our people to do more, know more than they ever have before and that’s going to continue into the future.  So we have to have the people who are physically fit but also mentally fit and can do the jobs that we’re asking them to do.

CLARK:  One person who’s taking a detailed look at some of these issues is Beth Bailey.  She’s author of “America’s Army – Making the All Volunteer Force.”  Bailey’s not sure if Americans’ growing waist lines can be described as a national security problem but she says there’s no question today’s pool of recruits is less fit than ever.

BETH BAILEY:  We’re not talking here about whether or not people can run six minute miles or people who have an extra ten pounds of flesh that’s going to burn off during boot camp.  Iraq and Afghanistan are extremely challenging physical environments and if we’re looking for people who can serve in the military in those climates, people have to be in reasonable physical condition.

CLARK: The physical fitness of America’s youth seems to be a recurring concern.  Bailey says that President Eisenhower raised the alarm back in the 1950’s when research showed American kids were less fit than their European counterparts.

BAILEY:  This leads eventually to the President’s conference on the fitness of American youth and to Kennedy’s initiative to have young people have physical fitness tests.

CLARK:  But Bailey says the obesity statistics today are much more worrisome than anything in the past.  She hopes the call to action announced today by these retired admirals and generals will do its part to encourage a slimming down of America’s youth.  The military recently completed a record year for recruiting but when the economy improves, military service will likely become a tougher sale and the Pentagon will need as many young people as it can get.  For The World, this is Katy Clark.

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