Most of the rest are too dumb or have used too many drugs to qualify, the study shows.
The report says 35% of the 31 million Americans aged 17 to 24 are unqualified because of physical and medical issues. "The major component of this is obesity," Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon's director of accessions, tells the Times. "We have an obesity crisis in the country. There's no question about it." He also said young people, by and large, can't do push-ups. "And they can't do pull-ups," Gilroy says. " And they can't run."
The Times says the Pentagon gets its data from the Centers for Disease Control, which has found that the percentage of youth 18 to 34 who are considered obese has jumped from 6% in 1987 to 23% now.
That study will show that when all factors are considered, 75% of military-age youth are not eligible to serve.
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This may be why there is a growing "Generation Recession" of 80million youths