America’s problem with obesity has spread into a new theater: the U.S. military.
The percentage of age-eligible civilians exceeding the weight and fat standards for admission into United States Military Academies — the undergraduate institutions that trains officers for the Armed Services — has more than doubled for men and more than tripled for women since 1959, according to a new study to be published in December.
The numbers for African-American women are even more shocking. Researchers found that the African-American women in the study were 13 percent more likely to exceed weight standards than white women.
These findings are not unique. Nationally, African-Americans are more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic whites, and African-American women are 70 percent more likely to be obese than white women.
“We wanted to see how the rising obesity rates has impacted the pool of potential applicants,” says J. Catherine Maclean, assistant professor in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health at the University of Pennsylvania.
Maclean and her co-author, John Cawley, a professor at Cornell in the department of Policy Analysis and Management, looked at long-range effects of obesity from a different perspective.
“There is a lot of talk about consequences of obesity, but we saw consequences for the military and military readiness given the physical demand of a lot of military work.”
The numbers suggest the possibility of why there is a growing gap in diversity among military officers.
“We think this is potentially a contributing factor to those disparities,” Maclean explains. “One of the objectives of the military is to have a military that is representative of the [United States], ethnically, racially and gender-wise.”
“[But] we see different groups that are disproportionally more likely to exceed these standards and that is going to have some implications of what the future military will look like by its demographics,” she continues.
The data that Maclean and Crowley found was consistent with obesity disparities on national levels along racial and gender lines.
“African-Americans are [in particular] disproportionally more likely to exceed weight for height standards, which is one key component to being eligible to enlist in the U.S. military,” Maclean explains.
Considering that the military can provide both education and employment, the problem with obesity clearly goes beyond health. Despite the high number of applicants found to be obese, however, it’s not an automatic dismissal from the selection process.
According to Maclean, a potential candidate is first weighed and measured. Those numbers are compared to weight and height tables that list the maximum allowable weight for a given height based on age and certain body features. Then, body fat is measured.
“If you exceed both of these standards you can apply for a waiver which is essentially a contract that you will lose the weight over a period of time and you can be conditionally accepted,” says Maclean.
With the number of potential applicants dropping, there is an immediate concern about military readiness — the ability to raise military forces as needed.
“In response to threats to the [United States], the military has to respond by increasing its size very rapidly, so it is important to have a potential supply of applicants who can meet the standards [to join],” Maclean explains.
This is the second research paper in a series of three that Maclean and Cawley have worked on highlighting obesity as it pertains to the armed forces. They examined this issue at the levels of enlisted, service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force) and the Public Health Service Commission Corps. They found the trends consistent on all levels.
Maclean still stresses that more research is needed – both on the disparities and how to ready these applicants for service.
“It is hard to say what is the most effective way to lower the numbers, [so] we need to learn more.”
Dr. Terrance McGill is an aspiring family physician with a passion for writing and increasing health awareness in the community. He is currently working towards his Master’s in Public Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.