United Kingdom: even the military are victims of overweight…
Some measurements can be confusing. The one in question takes place across the Channel with the British military . As obesity becomes a priority public health issue around the world, the UK government is adopting worrying standards for the health of its soldiers, and this has been going on for a decade.
A brief overview
There is before and after 2006, when a standard imposed by the Ministry of Defense was applied in the United Kingdom. It has been almost ten years now that the ” Pay as you dine ” measure has been applied in the British army where meals are no longer subsidized by the State. Indeed, the soldiers pay according to what they eat at the military canteen.
Subsidies are said to be “assisted” and access to collective catering is correlated with a financial contribution deducted from the wages of employees. This puncture, depending on what the soldier eats, encourages him to preserve his pay.
In addition, soldiers are no longer required to take their meals on the base itself . But eating well is expensive! Indeed, fresh vegetables and fruits do not satiate and are more expensive than a fast-food style meal which has the advantage of reassuring.
The choice is therefore made by the military: they only eat one meal a day in the canteen and prefer more greasy and salty food outside. Warrant Officer Dan Roberts, thirty years of class and spokesperson for the army, wishes to denounce these practices which serve his men.
Immediate reactions
It is in front of the failure of a large part of committed during their passages to the aptitude tests that Dan Roberts realizes the extent of the damage. Yet athletic and trained , the military seem immune to overweight. In fact, it is not so much the kilocalories ingested that are detrimental but the very content of the food. The kebabs, hamburgers, fries and sodas ingested to excess serve well-being, endurance and health itself.
The warrant officer therefore goes on to seminars and conventions in order to make his peers aware of this situation. The urgency is, not only to raise awareness of this problem which invades even the youngest and most dynamic, but also to make things happen by melting the kilos acquired in its troops.
The high-ranking officer decides to speak directly to the person in charge of Human Resources of the army, explaining the situation to him.
At the same time, he gives an interview to the daily ” The Express ” and advances the following data:
- Thirty-two thousand soldiers failed physical fitness tests
- Twenty-five thousand could be classified in the “obese” category, therefore with a BMI greater than 30
- Out of six hundred and twenty thousand elements, around 5% are no longer in a condition to carry out the tasks entrusted to them.
John Donnelly, the HRD, publicly admits there are challenges ahead.
Solutions are chosen
Faced with the pressure exerted by the warrant officer and the Human Resources manager, a strategic plan is deployed. Experts trained in obesity issues meet and agree on alternatives.
Contracts with food providers will, in the coming years, be reconsidered. The fitness of the soldiers is up to date as well as the educational support on food hygiene. Like any other citizen, the military ignore the basic rules of good nutrition.
However, there are no plans to repeal the ” Pay as you dine ” for the moment and Dan Roberts deplores it. He believes that the priority solution would be to better subsidize meals on armed bases .
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.