Obesity and national defense: Will america be too heavy to fight?

Abstract

Obesity has been a topic of intense interest in the United States for several years. Rising rates of obesity have led some to question whether or not America will be able to readily sustain a fit fighting force into the future. This study seeks to describe at what point, projecting current trends in obesity and military accession, there would no longer be a sufficient number of qualified applicants to support an effective military fighting force. By analyzing trends in national obesity data and military accession records, the authors were unable to determine a realistic time projection of a year in which the United States would no longer be able to find enough qualified military applicants as a result of increasing obesity rates.