“Missions Readiness,” comprised of former military leaders, issued a warning last week that the youth in the U.S. is not fit enough – both physically and emotionally – to defend the country.
The Washington Times reported the Department of Defense found 71 percent of those considered to be young Americans are unable to serve in combat due to drug abuse, obesity, a poor education, or a criminal record.
“Without coordinated actions, these trends pose a serious threat to the future of the all-volunteer force. If only 29 percent of the nation’s young adults are even qualified to serve, and these negative trends continue, it is inevitable that the U.S. military will suffer from a lack of manpower,” the report said.
Eating Junk
The New York Times reported last week that obesity is also a growing problem in China, where 34.3 percent of adults are considered overweight and 16.4 percent obese. Health officials in Beijing point to processed food consumption and greasy meals in restaurants. The report pointed out that Coca-Cola’s lobbying in the country has generally produced a government focus on exercise rather than healthy eating. But one health official pointed to the beverage as playing a role in obesity among the young.
“The frequent consumption of sugary beverages by children and adolescents has presented itself as a prominent problem,” Lin Bin, the Deputy Director of China’s National Health Commission, said, according to the report.
“Technology – like robotics, guided missiles, and drone warfare will play a much more meaningful role in any future hot conflict, but troops on the ground will always be required.”
The Heritage Foundation reported that in 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower noticed the “alarming reports about the state of fitness among American youth” and created public awareness by establishing the President’s Council on Youth Fitness.
“Children and adults alike need to understand an integrate quality nutrition, frequent exercise, less time on the couch, and more time outdoors in order to improve their quality of life and health,” the report said.
TREND FORECAST: The longer people are locked down, the heavier they will get. Nutrisystem estimates approximately 76 percent of Americans gained some 16 pounds since the COVID War began.
With gyms closed, people out of work, working from home, children learning online, etc., their survey found 42 percent of Americans are less physically active.
In 2018, the Milken Institute released a new study, “America’s Obesity Crisis: The Health and Economic Costs of Excess,” which found that chronic diseases driven by the risk factor of obesity and overweight accounted for $480.7 billion in direct health care costs in the U.S., with an additional $1.24 trillion in indirect costs due to lost economic productivity.
The total cost of chronic diseases due to obesity and overweight was $1.72 trillion – equivalent to 9.3 percent of the U.S. GDP. Obesity as a risk factor is by far the greatest contributor to the burden of chronic diseases in the U.S., accounting for 47.1 percent of the total cost of chronic diseases nationwide.
Therefore, as we have forecast, weight loss and whole health healing businesses and enterprises will be profitable OnTrendpreneur® opportunities in the coming years… a key element of the “New Age 2.0” trend as people shape up rather than go down.
There will also be numerous opportunities for OnTrendpreneurs® to design/provide products and services to assist the overweight and obese who will not lose weight.
TRENDPOST: It should be noted there was no mention in the “Missions Readiness” report that the people in the poor health conditions they list are also those most susceptible of dying from the virus.
