Weight Loss Before Military Training May Cut Injury Risk

TOPLINE:

Army recruits who lost excess weight to enter military training experienced fewer musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs), particularly in the lower extremities, during basic combat training than those who did not lose weight to join the service.

METHODOLOGY:

The nation’s obesity epidemic means that fewer individuals meet the US Army’s weight and body-fat standards for entering basic combat training. Only 29% of 17- to 24-year-olds in the country would have qualified to join the military in 2018, with overweight and obesity among the leading disqualifying factors.

Researchers analyzed data from 3168 Army trainees (mean age, 20.96 years; 62.34% men; mean maximum-ever BMI, 26.71) to examine the association between weight loss before enlistment and rates of MSKI during basic combat tr