Obesity is a National Security Issue: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling at TEDxMidAtlantic 2012

>>>>"Most" boys play some kind of sport. I have to assume it's the vast majority. There was a TED Talk a few years back from a US Army General about how the terrible physical fitness of America's youth is becoming a national security problem.[1] I think the "low quality" of adolescent males over the past 2 decades is partly behind the push for more women in the military: we have so few physically-fit high-testosterone males that we have to cast a wider net and recruit physically-fit, comparatively-high-T females; they are better than soft fatbody guys. If boys were seriously engaged in sports at the rates that you are suggesting, teen obesity shouldn't be so widespread. [1] [this video]

Fast food burgers are surely nowhere near as healthy as breadless home made burgers with grass-fed non-gmo meats but I would put the bigger risk on the associated High Fructose Corn Syrup drinks and oil cooked fries. Shaming people usually backfires whereas some states have had some success with taxing high fructose corn syrup drinks. Given that the long term health effects of fast food ultimately affect the national economy, national health budgets and national security, this is one rare case I believe a sin-tax makes sense provided that tax goes to health care. Diabetes alone will likely bankrupt most first world countries. [1][2] Why national security? For starters, the US military is finding it very difficult to recruit healthy people that can even pass their simple physical requirements. [3] [1] - [link] [2] - [link] [video][9 mins, t-shirt may be NSFW] [3] - [this video] [video][16 mins]

The military are already having a very difficult time recruiting people. Not for a lack of interest but for a lack of physical qualification. [1] This behavior will not help them get more people. I foresaw something like this when I served and had to fight them on DNA collection. I neither won nor lost but I stalled them long enough to get out. That was my commander's idea. It went all the way to Al Gore via FoIA and came back down as several boxes of paperwork that were worded more vague than a car commercial as to what the data/dna could be used for, how long they could keep it and who would have access to it . [1] - [this video] [video][16 mins]