Full PDF of the Report: MN-Physical-Activity-Report

Too Fat, Frail, and Out-of-Breath to Fight

Minnesota children need regular PE and real walking and biking options to maintain healthy weights and build strong bones and lungs.

Our nation’s military has often played a role in solving problems affecting our greater society. When malnutrition kept many young men from serving during WWII, General Lewis Hershey pushed successfully for the creation of the national school lunch program as a major force for children’s health. When the Soviet Union sparked national security concerns by successfully launching Sputnik as the first satellite to circle the earth, military leaders helped inspire improvements in the teaching of mathematics in U.S. schools. Responding to military leaders’ concerns about the need to move troops and supplies during an emergency, President Eisenhower — a former Army general — championed the development of the Interstate Highway System. And today, in response to an obesity crisis that disqualifies millions of young adults for military service, retired military leaders once again are leading the charge to ensure that schools are able to serve more nutritious meals to our nation’s students.

Today there are new challenges that affect the health of our nation’s children and the success of our military:

• Nearly one in three young Americans is too overweight to serve, one of the leading reasons why 69 percent of Minnesota’s young adults cannot serve in the military;

• One in ten young Minnesotans currently has asthma, which disqualifies them from serving in the military without a waiver. Obesity and lack of exercise can contribute to asthma and other respiratory problems;

• More than 60 percent of non-deployed active duty service members experience a sprain, stress fracture, or other musculoskeletal injury each year due in part to years of low calcium intake, lack of long-term exercise habits and/or excess weight. The military is spending billions treating these injuries among active duty personnel and veterans.

While these challenges have been driven by a variety of factors, there are two key ways to improve both health and military readiness for generations to come.

First, community planners and builders can prioritize the creation of new transportation systems that prioritize sidewalks, trails, separate bike lanes and other longer-term built environment changes to substantially increase walking or biking to and from school and work. This will reinforce regular physical activity as a simple and rewarding way to lead a healthy life, while improving air quality and lung functioning in the process.

Second, schools can help ensure that children get at least one hour of physical activity every day — the amount recommended by experts — which will help young people maintain a healthy weight while building strong muscles, lungs and bones. Unfortunately, in an average week, 40 percent of Minnesota ninth graders receive no physical education (PE) and less than a quarter of Minnesota high school students get the recommended hour of daily physical activity during the day.

Finally, we must stay the course on serving healthier school meals. Children consume up to half of their daily calories at school, and healthier meals will not only help prevent weight gain, but also provide the right nutrients that can enhance physical activity and contribute to bone and muscle growth. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 94 percent of Minnesota’s schools are successfully serving meals that meet updated nutrition standards.

The good news is that Minnesota has started making important changes to encourage physical activity, such as the Twin Cities’ state-of-the-art bike trail system, and is considering additional steps such as adding barriers that protect bike lanes from traffic. Recent evidence from elsewhere shows success is possible. Childhood obesity rates have declined by more than 30 percent among students in Wisconsin’s Chetek-Weyerhaeuser school district following a number of changes to help students become healthier, including expanding opportunities for physical activity throughout the school day. In the most polluted parts of Los Angeles, the number of teens with under-developed lungs has been cut in half following efforts to reduce air pollution. In Portland, Oregon and across Northern Europe, ongoing commitments to “active transportation” efforts have led to many thousands more children and adults walking or biking to and from school and work each day.

With all of this in mind, the retired admirals and generals of Mission: Readiness are leading the way to making PE a key part of every student’s day and supporting Safe Routes to School projects in Minnesota and across the country. Collectively, these efforts will put more students on track for a healthy future and help those who choose that path the opportunity to serve their country in the military. When military leaders have called for important changes, Americans have listened and acted. It is time to do that again.

Minnesota has started making important changes to encourage physical activity, such as the Twin Cities’ state-of-the-art bike trail system, with one trail USA Today labeled “the top urban bike path in the U.S.”

Minnesota, We Have a Problem

Impacts on the Military

A growing number of military recruits and service members are not only too overweight, but also too frail to fight. Many others have respiratory problems that prevent them from serving. While some physical deficiencies can be addressed once individuals enter the military, long-term military readiness is at risk unless a large-scale change in physical activity and nutrition takes place in America.

Full Report in the PDF linked above.

Categories: Societal