This is one of those stories you have to read twice, makes you say 'Wow,' the US Government actually doing something right. This is the type of action that doubles in results, because the US Government is such a big purchaser of everything. When they make a radical, positive change like this, it has ripple affects throughout the entire country:
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo., December 1 ---- At Army training sites across the nation, the mess hall is beginning to look different: Milk and juice dispensers are replacing soda fountains. Whole grains are being substituted for white bread and pasta.
The military increasingly believes that producing quality recruits starts at the dinner table during basic training, so it has started a new, more emphatic effort to change their eating habits. Now, color-coded labels point the way to healthy items, and drill sergeants stand watch over the chow line, calling out soldiers who don't put enough fruit on their plates.
Many new soldiers have never given much thought to their diets, reflecting the poor food choices of a nation with more and more obese people....
Healthy eating is deemed so essential that drill sergeants now include one-hour sessions on performance nutrition in addition to more traditional workouts.
Many recruits "have never been told how to properly eat," Staff Sgt. Travis Bammer said. "They think they can eat a candy bar for energy."
Army leaders report fewer injuries and higher scores on physical fitness tests at bases where the new program has been tested. Top Army leaders are watching the developments closely, Hertling said.
I'm not making this up, and it's not from the Onion, it's real! Check it out:
Yogurt In, Soda Out
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