This article paints a sad story, how many of today's military recruits are too overweight to even qualify for enlistment. Even more disheartening is the mention of how many soldiers get booted from the military for letting their weight slide. Clearly, our country has big problems if we are having trouble finding enough in-shape people to staff our military.
What's ironic is how good a job basic training can do in shaping up someone who's overweight. This study and this study both show that basic training can lead to large amounts of weight loss, 20 or even 30 lbs in these studies. And what is the military's recipe for weight loss in these cases? Exercise, exercise, and more exercise. Dietary restriction is neither necessary nor optimal for weight loss. The military knows that exercise by itself will do the trick. But it should wisen up and keep requiring exercise once basic training is over. A lot of people gravitate towards the military because of its structure; daily exercise should be a part of that structure and would go a long way towards fixing their problems.
