A Canadian Army crewman stands inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter flying over Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, July 5, 2011. (BAZ RATNER/BAZ RATNER/REUTERS)
Washington Post: The battle of the bulge: Many of Canada’s troops are fat
OTTAWA — Canada has often been criticized for failing to pull its weight as a military partner in organizations like NATO because of its relatively low level of defense spending.
But it’s a weight problem of another kind that’s currently dogging the Canadian Armed Forces. Many members of the Canadian military are fat, and authorities aren’t sure what to do about it.
According to a recently published survey on health and lifestyle conducted by the Canadian military, 49 percent of all Regular Force personnel were considered overweight and 25 percent were considered obese, based on body mass index. This included 6.1 percent of personnel considered morbidly obese.
The survey, based on self-reporting done by a sample of military personnel in 2013-14, showed a continued increase in obesity levels from earlier surveys. The report’s authors blamed part of the problem on too much sitting around and poor eating habits. Regular Force personnel reported spending an average of 30.5 hours a week in sedentary activities, an increase of 6.35 hours from 2004, the report said.
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Update: Too fat to fight? CF considering tougher fitness standards for Africa (iPolitics).
WNU Editor: Not really .... Are Canadian military personnel overweight or are study results being misinterpreted? (Ottawa Citizen).
BMI is not a valid index.
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