2009

Obesity in US military doubled since 2003: report
Since the start of the Iraq War in 2003 the number of overweight
and obese US military has doubled, in keeping with the national
trend but also due to the stress of deployment, a Pentagon study said.
"In the past decade among active military members in general, the
percent of military members who experienced medical encounters
for overweight/obesity has steadily increased; and since 2003,
rates of increase have generally accelerated," said the report
published in January. In 1998, the number of military personnel
diagnosed overweight or obese stood at 25,652, or 1.6% of the
entire armed forces. In 2003, it increased to 34,333 (2.1%), and
from then to 2008 the number doubled to 68,786 (4.4% of the total).
A 2005 poll of the US military established that "stress and return
from deployment were the most frequently cited reasons for recent
weight gain," the report said. The US military has shown signs of
overall exhaustion after years of deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And beside weight gain, the US Army has seen a sharp increase
in suicides that hit a record 143 in 2008, compared to 115 the
year before. The weight increase of US servicemen and women
reflects the weight-gaining tendency of the general US population,
where 20 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds are considered obese.
As with the civilian population, the rise in obesity among the
military is largely blamed on fast food and physically passive
recreational activities including videogames, television and
movies, the study said. "Overweight/obesity is a significant
military medical concern because it is associated with
decreased military operational effectiveness ... and
both acute and chronic adverse health effects,"
the Pentagon report said.