ASP in the News: Coverage of ASP’s New White Paper on The Costs and Consequences of the Military Obesity Crisis
On September 4, ASP published a White Paper titled “Costs and Consequences: Obesity’s Compounding Impact on the Military Health System.” The report found that obesity in active duty service members costs the Department of Defense more than $1.35 Billion annually, that an estimated 52,000 applicants for active-duty service were disqualified on the basis of their weight in fiscal year 2023, and that no military weight management program has been proven to maintain weight loss over time. Since its release, the report has been quoted by various news outlets.
According to Bloomberg:
“The report underscores the cascading challenges of an overweight military, with costs that impact operational readiness and burden the services’ health-care systems. But commanders are often reluctant to confront the issue because obesity is so difficult to treat — and may result in more expulsions.”
According to Stars and Stripes:
“Researchers suggested the Pentagon take a more proactive approach to preventing obesity, focusing on providing young, enlisted troops with health and nutrition education and access to quality foods. They also suggested the military replace long-held, appearance-based body composition standards with health-based standards driven by medical professionals and classify obesity as a disease in the military health system so troops can be treated medically for the condition.”
ASP’s report includes a number of recommendations to tackle the obesity crisis, including updating clinical practice guidelines, increasing focus on prevention, and prioritizing effective weight-loss interventions and treatments. More than 50 prominent military leaders, health experts, and advocacy groups echoed these recommendations in a letter ASP released this April, urging Secretary of Defense Austin to overhaul systemic issues preventing service members from accessing obesity treatment and calling the obesity epidemic an “existential threat” to national defense. Panelists at ASP’s recent “Experts Weigh In” event reiterated these concerns last week.
Read the full report here.
More coverage of this report is available below:
Stars and Stripes: Obesity among troops costs Pentagon more than $1 billion per year, new study finds
Bloomberg: Obesity Costs US Military $1.24 Billion a Year, Hobbles Recruitment Quotas
Fox News: Obesity is costly, growing problem for US military readiness: report
Military.com: Military Obesity Policies Need to Catch Up with Science, Look at New Weight Loss Drugs, Think Tank Says
Forces News: US armed forces need to tackle obesity rates with weight loss drugs, report suggests
War on the Rocks: What Body Composition Policies Show — and Hide — About Obesity in the Military
MSN: Obesity Crisis Hurts U.S. Military Recruitment, Costs Billions
WBT Radio: Middle Class Hit by Kamalanomics on The Brett Winterble Show
Ground News: Obesity Among US Military Troops Is At Crisis Level, Costs Pentagon More Than $1B Per Year
Defense Post: US Military Losing $1.35B Annually Due to Soldier Obesity: Study
