Opinion: Child health is the national security crisis we keep ignoring — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Department of Defense found in a 2020 study that 77% of young Americans do not qualify for military service due to health concerns, contributing to the first time three military branches missed recruitment goals in fiscal year 2023.
- JAMA study reported American children's health deteriorated alarmingly between 2007 and 2023, with U.S. children 1.8 times more likely to die than peers in other industrialized countries.
- Four in 10 American children will become adults hampered by obesity, chronic illness, anxiety, depression, or other conditions that limit educational and workforce outcomes, according to the op-ed.
- 1960s precedent: Nearly one-third of young men were unfit for service due to childhood poverty and poor health care, prompting investments in anti-poverty programs and Medicaid's Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment benefit.
- National Academies' "Launching Lifelong Health" report, co-chaired by two of the op-ed authors, recommends ensuring health care access, supporting nutrition, investing in research, strengthening early childhood programs, and reducing economic hardships.
- Tina Cheng, James Perrin, and retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal co-authored the op-ed arguing that national security "begins in childhood," not at the Pentagon.
Why it matters: The piece reframes military readiness, workforce growth, and health care costs as downstream of childhood well-being — challenging policymakers to treat pediatric health as national infrastructure rather than a separate social welfare issue. With 77% of youth already disqualified from military service and four in 10 children facing chronic conditions, the authors frame continued inaction as a direct, documented threat to U.S. economic and military standing.
Ask SkimNews
