“Fit, Not Fat”: Secretary Hegseth Slams Military Obesity Crisis
A report by the American Security Project (ASP) has found that more than two-thirds of US reserve and guard troops are overweight, raising concerns among officials about the impact on military readiness.
ASP researchers estimated that about 68 percent of US reserve forces are overweight. The report warned, “With the diminished size of the [active-duty] force and increasing demands on the National Guard and reserves, service members separated due to obesity and its comorbidities are vital personnel the Armed Forces cannot afford to lose.”
The study also found that being overweight and obesity are the main reasons applicants are disqualified and a major factor in early separation from the National Guard and Reserve. Obesity rates were found to be highest in the Army National Guard at 20.6 percent and lowest in the Marine Corps Reserve at 7.3 percent.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reacted to the findings in a post on X, writing, “Completely unacceptable. This is what happens when standards are IGNORED — and this is what we are changing. REAL fitness & weight standards are here. We will be FIT, not FAT.”
An earlier ASP report in October 2023 found that two-thirds of active-duty service members were considered overweight to obese based on body mass index. “These service members experience heightened risk for a wide variety of serious health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and osteoarthritis, which may lead to life-threatening health events such as stroke and heart failure,” the report stated.
Last month, Hegseth ordered a review of physical fitness standards across the military, raising concerns about the decline of proper fitness expectations and questioning whether different standards for men and women are undermining military readiness. He directed the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to examine “existing standards set by the Military Departments pertaining to physical fitness, body composition, and grooming, which includes but is not limited to beards.”
Speaking last Wednesday at the Army War College, Hegseth emphasized the importance of fitness, saying, “To be lethal, you have to trust that the warrior alongside you in battle or the troops fighting in the unit that many of you will lead are capable, truly physically capable of doing what is necessary under fire. You need to be fit not fat, sharp not shabby. Especially our leaders.”
