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Older generations always talk about how younger people aren't ready for the challenges of adulthood. When I was going through Navy SEAL training, the Vietnam veteran SEAL instructors called our class the “MTV Generation” because we grew up in the 1980s and had more TV channels to tune into than they had.
With that in mind, readers should know this article is not just the opinion of a grumpy old fitness writer who grew up with physical education classes in every grade of school. In a recent issue of the journal “Sports Medicine,” a team of researchers published a thorough meta-analysis of scientific studies on children and adolescents who needed more physical activity in their day. It's a must-read for an audience of parents, teachers and school administrators.
The real question is how dangerous is the high percentage of physically unfit youth in America, for both our youth and our national defense?
We have generations of military-aged men and women unable to join due to obesity; failure to meet the height, weight and body fat standards; and not being physically able to pass any of the entry-level fitness tests. There have been suggestions at one end of the spectrum to get rid of physical…
