Dine & Cook | Alternative food journalism

Retired high-ranking US military officers are fighting a new battle-- childhood obesity.

More than 100 retired generals and admirals urged Congress Monday to overhaul the public school lunch program.  The catalyst, a Defense Department report that estimates 1 in 4 young adults are too overweight to join the military.  The report also found that obesity was the leading medical disqualification for military service in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than trippled in the US in the past 30 years.  In 2008, more than one third of children and teens were either overweight or obese.  Data also shows that obese children were more likely to be obese as adults.

The retired officers want Congress to close the so called "pizza loophole."  Heavily lobbied for by the food industry, the loophole treats the tomato paste on pizza as a serving of vegetables on school lunch menus.

"We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program. It doesn't take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace," said Amy Dawson Taggart, director of the national security non-profit Mission: Readiness. "This is more than just a food fight on Capitol Hill. This new effort to undermine school nutrition regulations raises national security concerns."

In a letter to Congress, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton wrote: "We urge you to reject any language ... that would weaken the proposed guidelines for school meals or derail the implementation process."

This is not the first time military leaders have lobbied lawmakers on school nutrition as a matter of national security. After World War II the National School Lunch Program was enacted in part due to the poor nourishment of would-be recruits.

"Given that the USDA has spent the past year finalizing science-based standards to limit salt, unhealthy fats, and calories and include more nutrient-rich vegetables, fruits, and whole grains as part of school cafeteria menus, you'd think we'd be off to the races and kids would soon be eating much healthier food at school," said Taggart.

"Instead, we appear to be reliving the past battles over ketchup as a vegetable. If schools - or industry lobbyists - want to count pizza as a vegetable, they should make a pizza that meets the vegetable standards, not tamper with the standards to create a pizza loophole," said Dawson Taggart," she added.

Nutritionists estimate that public school students eat as many as 40 percent of their daily calories during the school day.

Congress released its final version of the school nutrition bill late Monday night.  As it stands, it drops attempts by the Obama administration to limit servings of potatoes, removes caps on sodium and nixes a requirement to include more whole grains.  The bill also keeps tomato paste on pizza as a vegetable.

The changes were requested by food companies and were backed by Congressional conservatives who argued that the government shouldn't tell children what to eat.

Both the House and the Senate are expected to vote on the bill, which is part of a larger spending package, later this week.