Doomking_Grimlock's idea to combat obesity This is a X-post from AskVoat, courtesy of my good friend @Doomking_Grimlock which I greatly approve of. Enjoy! Let me run something by you guys. I have an idea that I believe would be a net benefit to the American People on three separate fronts. It's no secret that America has a serious obesity problem, which stems almost entirely from a sedentary lifestyle and poor dietary choices.This also feeds into the mental health problems our country faces, because being obese and unfit in general creates a negative self image (appropriate, in my opinion) and leads to self harm and harm to the public in general when that negative self image is turned out on the world in general. We also have a problem with unemployed veterans, and with the recent spread of school shootings and violence among teens, I think I have an idea that might alleviate some of our problems. I would like to see High School Gym class and Health Class completely remodeled. Right now, Gym is a joke. You do some push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, etc, and then play a game for the rest of the time. Health is focused more on sexual education and prevention of drug and alcohol use. While I believe that it is important for young adults to be aware of the risks of sexual activity, I think that we are attacking the drug and alcohol problem from the wrong angle, and the dietary information provided by the general public school health course is painfully outdated. I would like to see a program wherein Gym Class becomes something more akin to a self defense course, led by trained former military members who teach our kids how to use Military Martial Arts, such as MCMAP. Obviously, this would be done with the proper safety gear and supervision, and we would have to offer something lighter for the helicopter parents that don't want their kids being smacked around a bit, but I think most parents would be thrilled at the idea of their children being taught how to handle and protect themselves, and the physical activity involved in the training would be far more effective in burning off excess fat and calories than what we currently use. A hour and a half to two hours a day could be dedicated to teaching kids the basics of self defense, threat assessment, and disarmament/De-escalation tactics. This would make kids more capable of protecting themselves from assault, and provide a similar deterrent to physical violence an armed civilian populace does: If everyone knows how to fight and protect themselves to some degree, you'll have to choose who you pick a fight with far more carefully. This also provides an outlet for kids who otherwise would have no means of resolution for their conflicts. For example: two guys are at each other's throats constantly. They hate each other, they're spoiling for a fight, and it's bound to boil over eventually. What normally happens is they snap, come to blows, then get separated and nothing is resolved. There is no winner, and there's no time for either of them to learn to respect their opponent's strength and resolve. Instead of this unsatisfactory result, The Class I propose would provide an arena for them to safely engage each other in combat, under appropriate supervision. The conflict is resolved, and ideally, they walk away with an appreciation and respect for each other they didn't have before. This could feasibly also reduce sexual assault against girls in school, as they are no capable of fighting back against their assailants. Health Class should be refocused: Drop the drugs and alcohol prevention in favor of teaching kids how to formulate a proper diet. Teach them how to count calories and about how their body actually processes food, what foods they actually need. The entire food pyramid/my plate whatever needs to be scrapped for a new, more modern assessment of our dietary needs. The idea that we need so much grain in our diet is, frankly, a toxic notion. Grain products are celebrated for their dietary fiber, but we ignore the massive amounts of carbohydrates and calories within grain products. The same amount of fiber could be achieved by increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables, which have far fewer calories and carbs than grain. Teaching kids how to appropriately manage their diets gives them the means of taking control of their own food intake, and while no, I don't believe every single kid will use that information to their advantage, I do believe that many will make more positive choices with the right information in hand. Coupling a better understanding of health with defense training would, in my theory, create young adults who are physically and mentally healthier, and more confident in their approach to life, and by employing veterans who are already trained in these fields, we'd be putting more American Soldiers to work. it might not be glamorous or well paid work (Teacher's Salaries, yaaaaaaaay), but it would be better than nothing. What do you guys think? It's a rough idea, but I feel like if it were more refined, we could propose it to President Trump and see what he thinks of it. It might no go anywhere, but when I look back on my high school experience, I think about how miserable it was, and how it could have been better, and I want to think up ways to fix all the broken shit inherent in our public school system.