title: Unfit for service: the implications of rising obesity for US military recruitment.
abstract: This paper contributes to the literature on the labor market consequences of unhealthy behaviors and poor health by examining a previously underappreciated consequence of the rise in obesity in the USA: challenges for military recruitment. Specifically, this paper estimates the percentage of the US military-age population that exceeds the US Army's current active duty enlistment standards for weight-for-height and percent body fat, using data from the series of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys that spans 1959-2008. We calculate that the percentage of military-age adults ineligible for enlistment because they are overweight and overfat more than doubled for men and tripled for women during that time. As of 2007-2008, 5.7 million men and 16.5 million women exceeded the Army's enlistment standards for weight and body fat. We document disparities across race and education in exceeding the standards and estimate that a further rise of just 1% in weight and body fat would further reduce eligibility for military service by over 850 000 men and 1.3 million women. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for military recruitment and defense policy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Policy Analysis and Management and Department of Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. JHC38@cornell.edu
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cawley
authors.forename: Johanna Catherine
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Maclean
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult