Comparison of weight status among two cohorts of US Air Force recruits.
BACKGROUND
Overweight and obesity are increasing rapidly in the US and the Department of Defense (DoD). We examined whether weight trends evidenced in the general population and DoD are occurring among individuals entering US Air Force (USAF) Basic Military Training (BMT).


METHODS
Individuals entering the USAF in 1996 (AF1996; N = 29,036) and 2000 (AF2000; N = 31,080), ages 17-29 years were surveyed. The two recruit cohorts were compared to age-matched individuals from the 1996 (N = 22,153) and 2000 (N = 31,861) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey (BRFSS).


RESULTS
Crude rates for all age groups and age- and gender-standardized prevalence rates reflected significant increases in overweight/obesity among recruits. The direct standardized prevalence of overweight/obesity increased nearly 24%, from 14.8% in AF1996 to 18.3% in AF2000. The increase in overweight/obesity was particularly large among male recruits ages 25-29 (i.e., from 36.4% to 44.5%) between 1996 and 2000.


CONCLUSIONS
USAF cohorts were less likely to be overweight than corresponding BRFSS samples. There were 19.1 and 20.2 percentage point differences between overall crude rates of overweight/obesity between AF1996 and BRFSS 1996 and AF2000 and BRFSS 2000, respectively. Nevertheless, overall rates of overweight and obesity are increasing among young recruits in the USAF at a fairly marked rate (approximately one percentage point per year).
Poston
Walker S C
WS
Health Research Group, Mid America Heart Institute and University of Missouri-Kansas City, 4825 Troost, Suite 124, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA. postonwa@umkc.edu
Haddock
Christopher Keith
CK
Peterson
Alan L
AL
Vander Weg
Mark W
MW
Klesges
Robert C
RC
Pinkston
Megan M
MM
DeBon
Margaret
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012737:Sex Factors; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires