Military obesity rates double in 10 years
Obesity data on active-duty service members released in 2022 indicates a doubling of obesity since 2012. This rate has also increased among the general population, which adds to the recruiting challenges that the military services face. The percentage of overweight and obese among those serving on active-duty sits at 68 percent.
From Roll Call:
Military obesity rates across the active duty jumped from 10.4 percent in 2012 to 21.6 percent in 2022, according to the study, the findings of which were released on Oct. 12. This mirrors a national trend that has shrunk the military’s recruitment pool and led to billions of dollars in associated health care costs.
Today, 68 percent of active-duty servicemembers are either overweight or obese, and eating disorders in the military increased by approximately 79 percent between 2017 and 2021, the report said.
Although obesity in the U.S. and the military is not new, the seemingly rapid increase in the rate of overweight troops could renew concerns over military readiness, as obesity is a primary contributor to in-service injuries and medical discharges, the report said.
Furthermore, the report found that the military’s inconsistent use of body mass index (BMI) data and social stigmas surrounding the treatment of obesity are hampering efforts to combat it. According to the report, the armed forces should treat obesity as a chronic disease.
“The Department of Defense’s influence over the active-duty environment allows it to successfully mitigate this crisis by applying evidence-based treatments and controlling contributing factors such as diet, exercise, sleep, and stress,” the author, Courtney Manning, wrote.
The findings are part of a broader national trend that has also shrunk the military’s recruitment pool, as the services struggle to find eligible applicants who meet the physical requirements for enlistment.
Roll Call provides additional information here. The white paper addressing this topic has more details.
Category: Military issues, YGBSM!!
“Put down the cheeseburger” does not mean:
Motherfucker!!!! You beat me to the memes…I had that one but here are two more.
WTF indeed
That has to be stolen valor.
No way that ball of fat is fo’ real.
WTF is up with her hair? Looks like she got in a fight with a weed eater and the weed eater won.
Mike
USAF Retired
https://giphy.com/clips/tlceurope-tlc-europe-the-learning-channel-2I3A1dsqESFEB3bUkF
Semper Ffff…at
She might not be an Army of one, but she’s at least a squad.
A real fat marine… losing fat off the ass might take time, but the hair can be right ASAP:
Jarheadapotomous.
Thats why, it’s hair today gome tommoro
Bet money-Corpsman
WTF?
It’s a deployapotamous.
Poster kids for the saying “NO PAIN, NO PAIN.” until back problems set in!
I blame it on Door Dash.
You won’t believe the amount of money Joe spends on Door Dash and Uber Eats.
Then they can’t make the payment for the 25% interest Mustangs and Camaros while getting fat on greasy food.
Classic victim-blaming. The food didn’t choose to be eaten.
😉
Picklesuitapotamous.
Ok…😎
Wrenchapotamous.
Sumbitch could fall down and rock himself to sleep.
Weeble’s wobble but they don’t fall down.
Well? 🤭
Rambapotamous.
Yep…🙄
Adminapotamous.
RGR 4-78:
We can’t stop laughing at all your “potasmous” comments…😆😅🤣😂😆😅🤣😂
You NAILED it! 🫡
Sincerely,
A Fellow 4-78 RANGER Class Graduate As Well…(The US Army is INDEED a very small world…😉😎)
I am grinning my ass off in that photo.
Yeppers..🫡
Well? 😉😎🤭
Missed one, ninja.
Meal Team Six.
*grin*
😂😅🤣🤭🫡👍👍👍👍
He had to have fastened 2 web belts together.
I think she made tape.
WOW, That soldier in the above pic is really Strac right down to the belt buckle inline right in the middle of her trousers.
Well, in the past four years, the Army had a newfound Combat Fitness Test, postponed its implementation due to a certain pandemic, exempted Soldiers from taking any fitness test, then finally decided, “Nah, the Army Physical Fitness Test was better!”
There’s a Burger King on every Army installation. Quantico has a McDonald’s. The Pentagon, last I went there, had a food court that would rival anything seen in a large mall, not to mention a food joint in the courtyard and multiple mini-food courts spread about.
Dining Facilities are getting closed or are understaffed, healthy food choices are slim at the Shoppettes, and Physical Training, sorry, Physical Readiness Training, sees the pre-warmup and Preparation Drill take up much of the hour allotted by many units. “The Bend and Reach, Starting Position, MOVE! One…………Two…………Three!”…………”ONE!”
Hooh-Ahhhh…🫡🤭
This is why I prefer the term “Air Farce.”
Honestly, in my experience, the Air Force generally tends to have better fitness facilities and culture than every other branch, combined.
Some of that might have to do with them being the only branch with decent living conditions and a regular night’s sleep.
The way I see it is, when it comes to weight control, everything the puzzle palace has tried has failed. Recently I ate at a DFAC and I was puzzled by the sign that said the troops could have x number of this or x number of that. The days of take all you want, eat all you take are long gone.
Back in the ’70’s & ’80’s I saw a lot of NCO’s who were great at the job get discharged because they didn’t resemble sticks.
Might it be time to mandate intermural sports at military bases with video games not counting as intermural sports? I don’t want to hear, “With today’s DEFCON environment no one has time for sports!” Well, if you’ve got time to stuff dollar bills down the G string of your next ex-wife, you’ve got time to toss a football around.
Hey, charity…
?v=1629781399
..
As I get older, this is becoming my mindset. Also, I’m in shape…round is a shape. Actually, I’m nowhere near as bad as all that. I can pass the ACFT, though I do need to work on my run a bit. The thing I find funny is that the Army wanted to make a test that was less focused on running, but I’ve found that I get the biggest “bang for my buck” in terms of improving my score by running. Running is key to 2 events, the Sprint-Drag-Carry and the 2-mile Run, but also helps improve your plank time. Go figure.
It’s sort of like the old saying “Never share a foxhole with someone crazier than you.”
I often think if we were bogged down, rounds zipping over our heads and my foxhole buddy shouts “Let’s charge those bastards, guns ablazin’, and go out in flaming glory taking a few of them with us.”
I would reply calmly “That’s a good idea, but I’ve got a better one. Why don’t we stay hunkered down and maybe they’ll run out of ammo soon?”
Just FYI, I won’t be here at 3 for the WOT, I have a thing to go do…..and it’s .357, .44 & 50AE combo.
Ooooh Can I has one in .357, 45 ACP, and 50AE?
You’ll shoot yer eye out kid.
🤣🤣🤣
It happens…. I joined the army at 135 in 1986 with no muscle. Finished Infantry OSUT and airborne school at 147 (all muscle, thanks Fort Benning). Got out in 1991 at about 150. Rejoined in 94, still at 150. Came out of Bn CMD in 2014 at 163. All gain was still healthy. Currently weigh 181. This is still well within screening weight but I won’t claim all that gain is “gains.” Oh, and I’ve shrunk half an inch since 1986….
Trend is definitely linked to society but also as a participant with service almost exclusively in maneuver units since 1986, I’ve also watched a marked change in both individual and unit physical training, with significantly more strength/power and far less long distance running. Separate from overweight-ness, this has greatly changed our Soldiers’ underlying physique over time. I would say pre-2003 / post 2006 or so.
Much of this has to do with relying on BMI as the defining factor of individual weight levels – BMI still has some utility for general-population statistical studies, but it was never intended to gauge the unique vagaries of every individual.
Most doctors are no more intelligent than the average person, they’re just more willing to slog through the gates of higher education (no disrespect to doctors – they genuinely save lives and endure a lot of slogging just to be in that position).
The shift toward more strength/power training isn’t a bad thing, though endurance still matters (and no, no matter how often you do back squats, that will never build the endurance needed to ruck 16 miles on a goat trail at a forced pace).
There are definitely more “BMI-overweight but fit” joes than there used to be (the tape test makes pipe-hitters). However, those hard-chargers are still in the minority. As a population, DOD is fatter than ever. Until legal authorizes the “hide behind the meat-shield” technique, this is an issue to be addressed immediately.
Fat, stupid and LGBTQ+ is no way to go through life!
Big deal. Weight control programs, monitoring caloric intake and exercise are all beciming things of the past.
Overweight? “No. I identify as being within standards.”
Low PT score? “Not possible. I identify as an Olympian…”
You all get the idea where this is going
Stop fat shaming. They’re beautiful.
This can’t be! Just a few weeks back we were talking about the poor troops @ Fort Hood (can we still say that?) were on short rations cause all the mess halls were closed. So which is it? Do we need to rotate all the troops thru Hood or just model all DFACs on their business model? Serve up ham and muthers from C Rats? Or here’s a novel idea…quit spending so much time sitting thru Death by Power Point on social issues and emphasize to the troops that being physically fit can and WILL save your life. Hard to dodge incoming when you’re a big slow moving target.
Like anything else in life, being physically fit requires some personal responsibility and work. I think that the whole “personal responsibility” thing has been tossed away.
“personal responsibility”
KOBasaurus, you are on point.
It’s “racist” for left/libtards now.
It’s still Fort Hood, to me.
A sh*thole by any other name would smell as nasty.
They weren’t short rations they were short cooks. Seems people would prefer to work the fryer at Mickey Dees than at the Army. At Micks they can smoke weed all the time. They can run that fryer for 20 years or until replaced by a robot.
I saw a fry-cooking robot at a McGunk in Kansas City back in 1998, they already have them!
Ok, inquiring minds want to know or at least I want to know.
Where in the Hell did these people find uniforms that damn big?
Hell I didn’t even know anyone made them that big, unless they take several regular uniforms and combine them to make a Super Sized one. Sort of like they do with the meals at fast food joints.
Maternity surplus.
Camouflage moo moos have been around for decades (did I spell “moo moo” correctly? Never had to type it before now).
Nothing a good 90’s PT plan can’t fix.
Mon: 5 Mile run
Tues: 2 mile “fun run” to obstacle course
Wed: Ruck march 4 mile “warm up” for Friday march
Thurs: 2 mile “fun run” push up sit up improvement
Friday: 8 mile ruck march prep for company 12 mileru
Repeat!
Problem solved!
That PT plan would ensure a damn good score on the ACFT. Which is why the Army would never implement it.
PT Motherfuckers.
Never saw a fat Soldier in 1967, at the end of service in 2004 we had at least 10 SGM Females working in my building, and they had to be at least 50lbs overweight. Uniforms were on so tight they looked like spray paint. Never knew what job title they carried and never seen any notes on their clipboards they all carried!!
I’m not taking anything away from supply, commo, etc. – “without a logistician, there ain’t no mission” – but how the hell do you have a SGM (let alone ten) who couldn’t possibly have any combat arms experience?
How can a generalist position be held by someone who never ventured out of a singular support specialty? INF, AR, CAV, CE, even INTEL NCOs all gain some experience in all the various S/G/J-areas as they advance. Show me a single career S-1 enlistee who ever even had to draw a sector sketch after PLDC.
A lot of times you’ll see “soft skill” MOS’ with senior NCOs who have been astute in their climb up the rank structure. A 42A in S1 might not have done anything besides S1, but darn if they don’t have the perfect position to climb to E-6 in a jiffy. They just have to make points, but their job is computer based and online college is easy to knock out. My time in an what amounted to an Adjutant General (AG) job (recruiting) saw me start my own online degree. I knocked out the bulk of it in two years on recruiting, doing a lot of the mandatory discussion boards and starting papers while on office duty, then cramming on weekends to complete the assignments.
Anyway, my experience is that AG takes care of their own. You’ll see a new PV2 one day, then before you know it, she’s a CPL with an ARCOM and three AAMs, while you just pinned SPC and got nothing besides your EIB and a promise of Air Assault School–so long as you reenlist. Having the ear of the Battalion CSM, the S1 NCOIC will make sure she’s sent to the E-5 and E-6 boards ASAP, while her NCOERs will be extremely well-written and pushed through without protest by anyone. Meanwhile, your 1SG demands a 280 on the APFT and keeps pushing your board date back.
A SGM isn’t necessarily a generalist. Conducting a little research, I just now learned that 42A HR types keep their MOS until and if they make 00Z (Nominative SGM/CSM). So, the GS-13 I worked under in MDW, who had retired as the J/G1 SGM, was a 42A6X. That’s unlike, say, 11B, where you move to 11Z at E-8.
There’s a lot of pushback on such career paths, even for those who were Drill Sergeants. I was an OSUT DS, but we shared a DFAC with a BCT battalion, and their Infantry guys told us that essentially the “soft skills” let them do all of the field and marksmanship training. There are definite go-getters, but it seems that many DSs who enlisted to push papers and never even deployed are content with wearing the hat and enforcing standards. For an example, look no further than CSM “No Slack” Teresa King, the empowered “First” Black Female Commandant of The US Army Drill Sergeant Academy, who was suspended and investigated for her command style. SGM Teresa King fights back for job : This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here (valorguardians.com)
She had never deployed to a combat theater and was known for being extremely rigid in her leadership style. I won’t fault her for doing her job with or without deploying, but in the early 2010s, it would have behooved her to realize that for some of us, having a slick sleeved CSM “First” talk down to us while we were trying to get through a course that most of us were voltuntold to do for a duty that few wanted (especially then, when deployments were still frequent) was simply a slap in the face.
Anyway, that former 42A6X-turned 00Z is litigation happy, it seems. Thirty years in, Commandant at one of the more important schoolhouses, Legion of Merit, but it was racism, sexism, and discrimination by combat vets that ended her career. Sure thing…
Reading my comments in the TAH Teresa King post linked above, I see I haven’t changed much. Back then I was a mid-career SSG with what I thought was my only “broadening assignment” behind me, sure to make SFC on just the next look. It took my own trip through the DS Academy and nearly six years, well after King was retired and suing anyone “defaming” her.
From that thread: “One of the guys that works for me has spent four years overseas already in Afghanistan and Iraq. He’s about to go Drill (DA Select) to be trained by men and women with much less experience. Worse, he risks losing his career if he fails out.”
This happened. The SGT I referenced did not mentally and physically prepare for the School and was dropped from the course. At the time, once they selected you for DS you were locked in. Fail out or request deferment or deletion and you were getting another school date at some point in the future. This SGT, though, was at over 10 years in, so he hit the Retention Control Point of 14 years without making SSG, thanks in large part to his failure. Just checked his FB profile and forgot he retired last year, from what I recall he went Guard and stayed around Fort Stewart.
I’m all for enforcing standards, but I never had to do the DS trail (thank Arceus) and I’m glad I finished OSUT long before Ms. King ever got involved.
It sounds like your young E-5 truly got fucked. If standards are high, failures are to be expected and alibis should be encouraged. I hope he’s doing alright.
I NEVER failed a PT Test in my entire Military Career, both AD and NG. Iwas once placed on the “Fat boy list” because of an incompetent NCO who didn’t read the tape test properly, I was and still am muscular, and many don’t take into account that lean muscle is twice as dense as fat tissue. Many Ossifers also only look at PT test scores and have a stiff woody for promoting PT Gazelles who couldn’t even lead horny drunk Sailors and Soldiers to a whorehouse! Nevertheless, I had to perpetually endure the excuses of Joes over the years why they couldn’t push themselves to pass PT/Height & weight and they just got more feeble over the years.
To be fair to those ossifers, I’m sure they feel a certain kinship with junior enlisted who can’t even LandNAV their way to the titty bar.