US armed forces need to tackle obesity rates with weight loss drugs, report suggests
Obesity is posing the US military with an unprecedented challenge and its current weight loss programmes are not enough to fix it, according to a study.
The paper from the American Security Project (ASP) think tank said the US military is seeing obesity rates rise at a time when active-duty manpower is at an all-time low.
It said the cost of obesity for active-duty service members is now more than $1.35bn a year.
This includes direct healthcare costs of $1.25bn, as well as productivity losses as a result of hospital stays costing another $99m last year.
With the numbers of active personnel so low, several strategies, including the loosening of fitness standards and retaining personnel who are classed as obese, have been introduced and become vital to retaining US force strength.
The ASP report states that the US Department of Defence has seen its total active-duty end strength fall more than 10% in the past four years.
Obesity, the report states, is the leading cause of recruitment disqualification – with 52,000 applicants ruled out due to their weight in 2023 alone.
This is 11,000 more than the services' 41,000-person recruitment shortfall.
And it is not just recruitment that is hit hard by the issue of obesity.
Personnel classed as obese or overweight typically leave military service 18 months earlier than their counterparts.
Once leaving the military, the report says, veterans are at much greater risk of obesity, with the rates highest in those who serve in combat arms, leadership, administrative and technical positions.
The report also outlined that military fitness programmes only reduce body weight by less than 1% – even in best-case scenarios.
The ASP said "evidence-based obesity identification and treatment in clinical settings remains the most effective and economical approach", and could save the US military health system $1bn a year.
The report said that pharmacotherapy options – including weight loss drugs – have been shown to be "highly effective at managing obesity, but these medications are needed continually for best results".
ASP is a Washington-based think-tank that looks at US national security issues.
On the think-tank's website, it states its mission is to "forge a bipartisan consensus on a new national security strategy" responsible for restoring US leadership and security.
It also says its looks to increase the US population's knowledge and understanding of critical national security issues through direct engagement and dialogue.
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