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Too Fat to Fight: Is Obesity a National Security Issue

By: CHP | Posted on: December 11th, 2009 | Share:
Categories: Disparities • Economic Issues • Policies and Laws • Nutrition • Public Health

Every once in a while, health experts and advocates chime in that our growing obesity epidemic is not just a public health issue – it’s also an issue of national security.

One of the early voices in this argument was Professor Carlos Crespo, then at University of Buffalo in New York, now at Portland State.

In an October 15, 2002 study in the the American Journal of Medicine, Crespo and the rest of the research team fromthe University at Buffalo and The Johns Hopkins University concluded that at least 13 percent of young men and 17 percent of young women of prime recruitment age would fail the weight requirements of all four services.

“This study shows that obesity is not just a public health issue, it’s a national security concern as well,” said Carlos Crespo, Dr. PH, study co-author and associate professor of social and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo. “We’re not physically fit to defend ourselves.”

More recently, in September 2009, a former U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona described obesity as “the terror within” and also a threat to national security.

Later that week, at a national conference on Hispanic childhood obesity, he said “Let’s look at who will be the next generation that will be our first responders, police and fire and military uniformed personnel, who will protect the nation and communities. They ain’t going to be there, folks.”

Carmona served as surgeon general from 2002 to 2006.

Is there a difference between labeling obesity a public health issue and national security issue?

Does one have more potential to get people to actually take action on this issue?