{"id":14120,"date":"2023-08-09T13:46:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T13:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifestylemedicine.org\/?p=14120"},"modified":"2023-10-06T17:10:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:10:15","slug":"lifestyle-medicine-and-national-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifestylemedicine.org\/articles\/lifestyle-medicine-and-national-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing Solutions to the Lifestyle-related Threat to U.S. National Security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Developing Solutions to the Lifestyle-related Threat to U.S. National Security<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>
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The same lifestyle-related health issues that have had a long-standing impact on disease and death in the U.S. are now recognized as an immediate threat to national security. This threat spans throughout every stage of the military lifecycle, significantly impacting recruitment, retention, and readiness across all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces; veteran populations are also disproportionately burdened by these lifestyle-related health concerns . Recent military media reports have highlighted this problem, but missing from media coverage thus far have been the collaborations across government, NGOs, industry, and academia, providing evidence-based solutions for the problem.<\/p>\n

The Need for Sustainable Health Solutions is Clear<\/h2>\n

Recent studies show the vast majority of age-eligible Americans are unfit for military service. A 2022 Pentagon study<\/a> shows that 77% of young Americans would not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, having mental or physical health problems, or a history of prior drug use. This is an increase from the Pentagon’s 2020 Qualified Military Available Study that shows a 6% increase from the 2017 Department of Defense research that showed 71% of Americans<\/a> would be ineligible for service.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Another recent study<\/a> showed that recruits from Southern States, which have higher prevalence of chronic disease, are generating a disproportionately higher health care cost burden that is linked to significantly higher rates of musculoskeletal injures (MSKIs) sustained during basic training. MSKIs are considered the greatest medical impediment to military readiness, are highly correlated with physical fitness, and cost the U.S. Department of Defense an estimated $3.7 billion annually across all service branches. In this most recent study, Army recruits from a cluster of Southern states accounted for nearly 50% of total national costs related to MSKIs amongst all Army recruits nationally.<\/p>\n

In addition, another recent study<\/a> showed that between 2018 and 2021, the prevalence of obesity, prediabetes, and diabetes increased among active service members. The largest relative increases in obesity prevalence were in the youngest (<30 years) age categories. This is of significant concern as service members with elevated BMI and other metabolic disorders may not meet requirements for theater deployment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Lifestyle Medicine Practice is Growing Within the Military<\/h2>\n

However, efforts are underway to solve this alarming issue. The breadth of lifestyle medicine practice is growing within the military<\/a> as a whole. Already, there are multiple clinics implementing Lifestyle & Performance Medicine<\/a> approaches to optimize warfighter health in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, as well as the National Guard and Reserve. These clinics deliver the same foundational six tenets of lifestyle medicine with an added focus on human performance and typically integrate care deliver through a range of various health care providers across many specialties. There are also eight military graduate medical education programs that have adopted the lifestyle medicine residency curriculum.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Partnerships are Key to Making Further Headway<\/h2>\n

Some examples:<\/p>\n