The soaring rates of obesity among serving personnel in the US armed forces are now costing more than $1.35 billion per year, a new report from the American Security Project (ASP) said.
"The United States Armed Forces face an unprecedented challenge as obesity rates across the services continue to rise," the report said on Wednesday. "As a result, the estimated cost of obesity in active-duty service members now exceeds $1.35 billion annually."
Because active-duty manpower is now at an all-time low, strategies such as loosening fitness standards, granting weight waivers, and retaining service members with obesity have been vital to ensure sufficient force strength, the ASP acknowledged.
However, the result has been an explosion in medical costs associated with overweight health conditions, "with direct care costs comprising $1.25 billion and productivity losses due to hospital stays costing an additional $99 million in 2023," the report said.
Military fitness programs have succeeded in reducing body weight by less than 1% in active-duty military populations, and none have been proven to maintain weight loss over time, the report admitted.