The United State's growing obesity problem is causing significant recruiting problems for the military. According to a report issued on Wednesday by a group of retired military leaders, one in three young adults nationwide are considered too fat to enlist.

According to CBS, obesity is among the leading causes of military ineligibility among people ages 17 to 24. Others are a lack of adequate education, a criminal history or drug use.

The military has also seen a 61 percent rise in obesity since 2002 among its active duty forces, driving up obesity-related health care spending and costs to replace unfit military personnel, the report said."

So how do we fix this? A nonprofit group called "Mission: Readiness" is promoting healthy school lunches across the nation as a way to combat the problem.

“We think a more healthy lifestyle over the long term will have significant impacts on both the military posture — those available to get into the military — and across our society as a whole from a medical perspective,” retired Brigadier Gen. John Schmader said in a phone interview ahead of the report’s release."

According to Military.com, the standard weight for joining the army is a maximum body fat of 20% for males under 30, 24% for males over 30, 28% for females under 30, and 32% for females over 30. Each division of the military has it's own set of regulations which you can find here.

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