Study: More service members obese

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Doubled since 2003
Pentagon study: Stress hurts weight


Study: More service members obese
By Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY
Posted : Tuesday Feb 10, 2009 12:44:09 EST

WASHINGTON — The number of troops diagnosed as overweight or obese has more than doubled since the start of the Iraq war, yet another example of stress and strains of continuing combat deployments, according to a recent Pentagon study.

The review, contained in the January edition of the Defense Department’s Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, raises concerns about the overall readiness as demands on the military continue to increase, says Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, director of strategic communication for Pentagon health affairs.

“Stress and return from deployment were the most frequently cited reasons” for gaining weight, the study said. The largest increase in diagnoses of overweight and obese troops came in the last five years, the report said.

From 1998 to 2002, the number of servicemembers diagnosed as overweight remained steady at about one or two out of 100. But those numbers increased after 2003, according to the study, and today nearly one in 20 are diagnosed as clinically overweight.

There may be even more overweight troops than the report shows, Kilpatrick said, because the study includes only servicemembers diagnosed as overweight during a visit with a doctor. The actual percentage of troops who are found to be overweight during fitness trials could be higher, he said.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/02/gns_obese_troops_020109/%2e