Too Fat for a Foxhole

America's obesity crisis is chalking up an unlikely victim: the military.

Economists at Cornell University used CDC data to calculate that as of 2008, nearly 12 percent of enlistment-aged men and 35 percent of women are too fat to join the United States Army. That’s an 110 percent increase for men and 202 percent jump for women since 1959.

Although it's no secret that America is growing fatter each year, “the magnitude of the increase did surprise us,” says study author Catherine Maclean, a Ph.D. candidate. A similar number are disqualified for the Navy, Marines, or Air Force, although each branch has its unique fitness standards, Maclean says. Currently around 70 percent of the U.S. population is overweight or obese, and a Johns Hopkins study predicts that number will climb to 86 percent in the next 20 years.

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The Military and Monetary Cost of Obesity

Even in this modern age of unmanned drones, our past decade in Iraq and Afghanistan showed how boots on the ground are still essential to winning wars. Troops have to sprint short distances and climb over walls and other obstacles, all while wearing upwards of 50 pounds of body armor, ammunition, and supplies. What's more, several studies have outlined how overweight soldiers are more likely to fail boot camp and contribute to 658,000 lost work days in the military a year.

Since all medical expenses for active duty soldiers and retirees—plus their families—are covered by the government, the burden of obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes falls squarely on taxpayer shoulders. The military health insurance system (TRICARE) already pays $1.1 billion each year for obesity-related medical care, more than the costs linked to alcohol and tobacco use combined, according to a study in the American Journal of Health Promotion. (Those numbers don’t include people who are in the Veterans Affairs health care system.)

Being overweight is also the single biggest hurdle to enter a military that needs at least 184,000 new recruits each year, disqualifying 23.3 percent of all applicants, according to the National Research Council. (In second place? Prior marijuana use, at 12.6 percent.) “Ninety percent of the time, if you tell someone they're overweight for the Army they go, 'Oh, I can't do it, I'm out,'” says Staff Sgt. Nick Chalos, an Army recruiter in Chicago.

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Body Composition and Performance Standards

These days, new recruits can have no more than 26 percent body fat for men and 36 percent for women during their entrance medical exam. Standards for active duty soldiers are actually higher: 20 percent body fat for men up to the age of 20, and 22 percent for guys between 21 and 27 years old. A new recruit who might be close to the 26 percent body fat mark has up to a year after they enter active duty to lose the extra pounds.

Boot camp has always been packed with exercise, beginning with predawn physical training, followed by obstacle course runs and other training during the day. By the seventh week of boot camp, recruits have to pass the Army's physical fitness test, or PFT: max out on pushups and situps, then run 2 miles, with minimums for each based on the soldier's age. “We're not Biggest Loser, but the calorie burn for the entire day should be enough to get them in shape,” says Stephen Van Camp, C.S.C.S., the Army's chief of doctrine for the Physical Readiness Division.

New Training and Nutrition Programs

Van Camp was one of the primary authors of the Army's new workout and physical training regimen, published in 2010. Spurred by a rash of sports-type injuries both in basic training and in combat zones, Van Camp combed through every type of exercise program he could find—from the turn of the century to modern NFL combines and Olympic training camps.

Ultimately, the Army cut back on workouts that were designed primarily to help soldiers pass the PFT, which revolved around high reps of pushups, sit-ups, and on long runs. Instead, soldiers progress through a multistage, detailed program (the manual runs for over 400 pages) incorporating core exercises, kettlebell lifts, plyometrics, and interval sprints. They also approximate climbing over walls—with variations on pullups and hanging leg raises—and carrying injured comrades. (Watch trainer David Jack teach you proper kettlebell swing form.)

Another new program aims to help new recruits who were raised on a diet of fast food and soda learn how to distinguish between chow line options with labels color-coded green, yellow, and red for foods with high, average, and low nutritional value. (At the same time, even the main U.S. military base in Baghdad has a Burger King and a Cinnabon.)

That may help current solders shape up and stay fit, but the Army's programs unfortunately have little impact on the recent high school grads who are most likely to enlist. “What you see coming through the door at basic training is a reflection of society,” Van Camp says. “Pretty soon we won't have enough people to serve.”

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