Tri-Service
Battle Of The Bulge: The British Personnel Fighting Obesity
Hundreds of British service personnel have been prescribed diet pills and 20 have had liposuction, it has emerged.
New figures also show that over 800 serving members of the British Armed Forces had type 2 diabetes between 2014 and 2016.
The data, obtained by the Sunday Times through Freedom of Information requests, shows that over 270 military personnel have been prescribed diet pills, while 50 have been dismissed for repeatedly failing fitness tests.
Liposuction, meanwhile, had been used to remove unwanted body fat from 10 men and 10 women serving in the forces. An MoD spokesperson said:
"It is a condition of service that out personnel must be fit and healthy, and the vast majority pass regular, challenging fitness tests.
"All armed forces personnel are educated in nutrition, diet and exercise, while prevention measures help individuals maintain a healthy weight. In some circumstances additional measures may be considered in order to achieve this."
In 2014, it was reported over 25,000 British military personnel had been found to be obese since four years prior.
3,000 sailors were considered drastically overweight by the figures, whilst around 5,000 members of the RAF also fell into the obese category.
It emerged in April last year, meanwhile, that overweight troops were to be sent on training courses to help them lose fat and get in shape.
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