title: Overweight and obesity trends among active duty military personnel: a 13-year perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The U.S. population has shown increasing rates of overweight and obesity in recent years, but similar analyses do not exist for U.S. military personnel. It is important to understand these patterns in the military because of their impact on fitness and readiness.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess prevalence and trends in overweight/obesity among U.S. service members and to examine the associations of sociodemographic characteristics, exercise, depression, and substance use with these patterns.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses performed in 2013 used five large population-based health-related behavior surveys conducted from 1995 to 2008. Main outcome measures were overweight and obesity among active duty military personnel based on BMI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Combined overweight and obesity (BMI≥25) increased from 50.6% in 1995 to 60.8% in 2008, primarily driven by the rise in obesity (BMI≥30) from 5.0% to 12.7%. For overweight, military women showed the largest increase. For obesity, all sociodemographic groups showed significant increases, with the largest among warrant officers, senior enlisted personnel, and people aged 36-45 years. Adjusted multinomial logit analyses found that service members aged 26 years and older, men, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics, enlisted personnel, married personnel, and heavy drinkers had the highest risk both for overweight and obesity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Combined overweight and obesity in active duty personnel rose to more than 60% between 1995 and 2008, primarily because of increased obesity. The high prevalence of overweight and obesity needs attention and has implications for Department of Defense efforts to improve the health, fitness, readiness, and quality of life of the Active Forces.
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Carolyn M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Reyes-Guzman
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Electronic address: rmb@rti.org.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Valerie L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Forman-Hoffman
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D001741:Black or African American