As the U.S. military faces a growing challenge with overweight troops, Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy E. Black, the senior enlisted advisor to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, has proposed a straightforward solution: eliminate fast food restaurants from military installations.
In an interview with the MOPs and MOEs Podcast, Black said military dining facilities need to give service members better options to eat. “If you want to reduce obesity, serve different types of food at the chow hall,” he said. By Black’s account, taking fast food outlets off of bases could be a relatively simple step toward making service members healthier—there’s no expense or research involved.
Black indicated the worth of an American service member as important as the American military looks after its tank or a flying machine. He stressed that their physical and mental health should be a priority.
While Black’s comments were informal, they do outline one way the Pentagon could be slashing the rising obesity rates among troops. He noted that dining halls meet stricter food quality standards due to their contracts with the Defense Department, but fast food options tempt troops into reaching for less healthy fare. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t compete with a cheeseburger,” Black said.
A report by the American Security Project from October found that nearly 70 percent of service members are either overweight or obese. According to data from the Defense Department, the obesity rate has more than doubled in the last decade alone—from 10 percent to about 21 percent. This is part of a broader societal trend, as more than half of young Americans are now classified as obese, making it the leading disqualifier for military recruitment.
Black also pointed out that these pervasive health issues are shrinking the pool of eligible recruits. “Right now, only about 24% of the American population meets the physical fitness standards to join military service — obesity being the larger of the number of disqualifiers,” he said. “We have a societal issue.”
The demand to rid military bases of fast food comes amidst the larger call to address issues related to health and fitness within the armed forces, ensuring that service members are at their best to render duties.