Obesity rate in Canadian military higher than that of the general population: internal briefing

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Military leaders have been warned that Canada’s troops are becoming increasingly overweight and obese, with 72 per cent of armed forces personnel falling into those two categories.

“Obesity prevalence has been slowly increasing for many years,” senior leaders were warned in a series of briefings in June 2024 conducted by officials with Canadian Forces Health Services.

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That, in turn, has been associated with an increase in sick days and medical releases as well as reduced readiness and productivity.

Forty-four percent of personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces are considered overweight while 28 per cent are classified as obese, according to the briefings.

The briefings for the leaders of the army, navy and air force were obtained through the Access to Information Act by Ottawa-based researcher Ken Rubin.

Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members have much higher levels of physical activity than the overall Canadian population, the briefings noted.

But the military also had higher rates of obesity. Sixty-eight per cent of Canadian men were considered obese or overweight, while that rate was 78 per cent for men in the military, the briefings pointed out. Fifty-three per cent of Canadian women were considered obese or overweight while in the military that figure is 57 per cent.

One of the reports for the senior leadership concluded that “increasing physical activity level will not resolve the challenges of obesity in the CAF.”

To deal with the problem, military health specialists suggested promoting a culture of fitness through physical activity, injury prevention, sleep and nutrition.

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Rubin said that the Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence tried to hide the reports in question. He submitted two requests under the Access to Information Act in July 2024 for records discussing data on the overall physical fitness status of military personnel as well as documents about weight. But DND’s access-to-information branch informed Rubin that a “thorough and complete search” of records was conducted and not a single document could be found.

Rubin then submitted a similar request to the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS), an organization separate from DND, and received 141 pages of records. That included the briefings produced by DND and Canadian Forces staff on obesity and physical fitness in the ranks and presented directly to the heads of the army, navy and air force.

“I think (DND) was hiding the records because they’re embarrassed,” Rubin said in an interview. “This is information that people have a right to know and information of consequence. Is the military fighting fit or not?”

DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said in an email that DND did not search CFMWS files as it is a separate organization with its own access-to-information branch. But there was no explanation for why DND did not provide Rubin with the obesity reports produced by senior military staff and written for the heads of the army, navy and air force. “DND claimed it had no such records even though the briefings clearly have a DND and Canadian Forces logo on them,” Rubin said.

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CFMWS had duplicate copies of those reports in their data banks and properly followed the law by releasing them, while DND had the same records but claimed they didn’t exist, Rubin added.

The Canadian military and DND have faced ongoing criticism at the House of Commons defence committee for its culture of secrecy as well as its failure to follow the Access to Information Act.

Poulin also stated in her email that Canadian military data on obesity is, in part, based an individual’s self-reported height and weight, which serves to calculate a Body Mass Index or BMI. “CAF surveys also study eating patterns, barriers to healthy eating, and chronic conditions,” Poulin added. “BMI at the population level is a practical and useful tool, especially to compare data over time, even if it has limitations.”

The Canadian military has a number of programs to improve the health and well-being of military personnel, she added. Those include physical fitness regimes, a new nutritional course and customized health and wellness workshops, Poulin said.

Similar warnings about poor health and obesity were also contained in an October 2024 briefing prepared for Lt. Gen. Lise Bourgon, chief of military personnel. That briefing, leaked to the Ottawa Citizen, noted that obesity rates were up in the military. It pointed out that 61 per cent of regular force personnel reported that their physical health had gotten worse since 2020.

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Rubin said that his access-to-information requests also asked for statistics on numbers of personnel who have been removed from the military because of weight issues.

A 1992 article in the Ottawa Citizen reported the military had a policy of kicking out people it determined were physically unfit. Those considered overweight were required to take a six-month physical fitness program and follow a diet for six months. If they did not reduce their weight they were put on probation and could be removed from the military if no improvements in fitness were made, according to information provided at that time by the Canadian Forces.

But Poulin said in her email that the Canadian Forces does not track data “on the number of members who have been subject to administrative action or release in relation to physical fitness issues that may cause medical employment limitations.”

Poulin noted that when circumstances call into question a military member’s suitability for continued service in the Canadian Forces, an administrative review may be conducted. “An administrative review determines the most appropriate action, if any, to deal with the matter, and is conducted in a transparent manner with a focus on procedural fairness,” she said.

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A 1989 Canadian Forces study found that five per cent of the then-88,000 regular force was obese while another 17 per cent was considered overweight. In comparison 15 per cent of Canadians were considered obese and 15 per cent overweight, according to the study.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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