Military Obesity Rates Soar, Compounding Recruitment Challenges
Obesity rates among active-duty servicemembers doubled in the past decade, and antiquated policies and incomplete data have complicated efforts to combat the trend, according to a new report from the American Security Project. Military obesity rates across the active duty jumped from 10.4% in 2012 to 21.6% in 2022, according to the study, the findings of which […]
Too Heavy to Fight? How the Army Is Combating the Obesity Crisis to Find Recruits
FORT JACKSON, South Carolina — Pvt. David Dean weighed 320 lbs. when he went to visit a National Guard recruiter. A West Virginia plumber by trade, he wanted to prove to himself that he could serve, and he’d always wanted to put on the uniform. “I could never get in because I was overweight,” Dean […]
