According to a recent study, obesity rates in the American military increased during the pandemic.
In the pandemic, from February 2019 to June 2021, nearly 10,000 active-duty Army soldiers developed obesity, according to a study conducted by the Uniformed Services University’s Center for Health Services study.
According to the Associated Press, the figure increased the military’s obesity rate to almost a quarter of the soldiers examined, with increases seen in the Navy and the Marines.
“The Army and the other services need to focus on how to bring the forces back to fitness,” said Tracey Perez Koehlmoos, the director of the Bethesda, Maryland, center.
More recent data on the obesity rate won’t be accessible until later this year
Military personnel who are overweight or obese are more likely to suffer an injury and are less likely to be able to handle the physical duties of their work.
More recent data won’t be accessible until later this year, according to Koehlmoos, but there are no signs that the trend is changing.
According to the wire agency, the Army missed its recruitment target for the first time in fiscal 2022 by 15,000 recruits or a quarter of the needed number.
According to the report, the failure is primarily attributable to the fact that three-quarters of Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 are ineligible for military service for a variety of reasons, the biggest of which is being overweight.