About seven in 10 young adults are ineligible for military service, according to a new report from a group that is pushing school nutrition standards as a way to improve that situation.

Only a portion of that ineligibility list — about one in four Americans aged 17 to 24 — is comprised of individuals considered too fat to serve. But Mission: Readiness, a group of 450 retired generals and admirals, see the nutritional requirements included in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 as key to reversing that trend.

Lawmakers are considering waiving some of those requirements, a move pushed by schools that are running red ink in cafeterias as students balk at buying healthier options. At least 150 schools have pulled out of the federal program, Bloomberg Businessweek reported in August.

"There are going to be hiccups along the road, because not everybody, me included, gives up cheeseburgers that easily," said retired Rear Adm. Casey Coane, a Mission: Readiness member and former executive director of the Association of the U.S. Navy. "But the fact is, kids are adapting."

The report, titled "Retreat is Not an Option," notes that while obesity is a leading cause of ineligibility for service, it's not the only one; criminal records and insufficient education also add to the totals.

More than 70 percent of those in the 17-to-24 age range in all but five states are ineligible for service, according to figures in the report provided by the Defense Department. Even the best-performing states have less-than-impressive numbers; the lowest ineliginility rate in the nation is Hawaii's, at 62 percent, followed by a four-way tie at 69 percent between Connecticut, Minnesota, Washington and New Jersey.

Four states and the District of Columbia have 75 percent or more ineligibles, led by Mississippi at 78 percent.

"Obviously, our country has an obesity problem," said retired Army Maj. Gen. Don Morrow, former head of the Arkansas National Guard and a Mission: Readiness member. "And that's one of the factors that plays into [this recruitment] issue that I think most of us who have served feel very strongly about."

The group released "Too Fat to Fight" in 2010, a report outlining obesity's damage to the recruiting pool that supported the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The group's is not concerned only about recruits; the new report cites a 61 percent increase in obese active-duty members since 2002, leading to failed fitness tests and higher medical costs for weight-related health issues.

The group says the Defense Department spends more than $1.5 billion a year on such medical care, and to replace those kicked out for failing fitness tests. And while all services have improved fitness standards and nutrition programs, Morrow said the best time to attack these problems is well before a prospective service member reaches a recruiter's door.

"One of the underlying things here is, it's not easy to change a habit," Morrow said. "We have, for years, grown up eating a lot of fast food, eating a lot of sugar."

And while the group is supporting the lunch program backed by First Lady Michelle Obama and targeted primarily by Republican lawmakers, it is attempting to stay out of the partisan fray, Coane said.

"Let's move the country forward, let's don't kick the can forward another year," he said. "Let's try to stay away from the word 'political' — that's not good, no matter how you look at it."

About Kevin Lilley

Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.

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