VOA健康报道2023--Obesity Increased in US Military during Pandemic

Obesity¹ Increased in US Military during Pandemic

Early COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, long hours on his computer, and increased stress led U.S. Army Staff Sergeant² Daniel Murillo to eat more. Then, places to work out were closed; organized exercise was out; and Murillo's desire to work out on his own was low.

"The uniform was tighter," said Murillo after gaining over 13 kilograms during the pandemic. "I could notice it," he added.

Murillo was not the only U.S. soldier to deal with extra weight. New research says that the extra weight problem greatly increased in the U.S. military during the pandemic.

In the Army alone, almost 10,000 soldiers became heavily overweight, or obese³, between February 2019 and June 2021. That is nearly 25 percent of the soldiers in the study. The Navy and the Marines also showed weight gains.

"The Army and the other services need to focus on how to bring the forces back to fitness," said Tracey Perez Koehlmoos who led the research. She is the director of the Center for Health Services Research at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland.

"National security problem"

Overweight and obese troops are more likely to be injured and less likely to continue their physical work long term. Government research shows that the military loses more than 650,000 workdays yearly because of extra weight. And obesity-related health costs are more than $1.5 billion each year for current and former soldiers and their families.

Military leaders have been warning about the impact of obesity on the U.S. military for more than ten years. The pandemic effects show the need for urgent action, said retired⁵ Marine⁴ Corps⁶ Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, who co-wrote a recent report on the problem.

"The numbers have not gotten better," Cheney said in a November online conference held by the American Security Project, a nonprofit organization. "They are just getting worse and worse and worse."

Last year, the U.S. Army did not meet its goal of signing up new soldiers for the first time. Being overweight disqualifies more than 10 percent of people ages 17 to 24 who could enter the military.

Cheney said, "It is devastating⁷." And he called it a "national security problem."

Extra weight can make it difficult for soldiers to meet the military fitness requirements. In the Army, if soldiers cannot pass the Army Combat Fitness Test, it could end their military careers.

The research

The researchers looked at nearly 200,000 soldiers from two periods: before the pandemic, from February 2019 to January 2020, and during the crisis, from September 2020 to June 2021.

They found that nearly 27 percent who were healthy before the pandemic became overweight. And nearly 16 percent of those who were previously⁸ overweight became obese. About 18 percent of the soldiers were obese before the pandemic. By 2021, it grew to 23 percent.

The researchers used a calculation of weight and height called BMI, or body mass index.

A person with a BMI of 18.5 to 25 is considered healthy, while a BMI of 25 to less than 30 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. Some experts say the BMI measure is flawed. They say it does not consider muscle mass or other health conditions in its calculations. However, BMI remains⁹ a widely used tool.

In Sergeant Murillo's case, his BMI during the pandemic reached nearly 32. He knew he needed help, so he started a strict exercise program through the Army's Holistic¹⁰ Health and Fitness, or H2F, program.

"We do two runs a week, 6 and-a-half to 8 kilometers," Murillo said. "Some mornings I wanted to quit, but I hung in there."

Now, his BMI is just over 27, which is within the Defense¹¹ Department's standard.

Putting on extra weight during the pandemic was not just a military problem.

A study last year of American adults found that nearly half reported gaining weight after the first year of the COVID-19 emergency. Another study found a sharp rise in obesity among children.

The gains came in a country where more than 40 percent of adults and nearly 20 percent of children are obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Words in This Story

lockdown -n. a time period when people must stay at home because of a dangerous situation

focus -v. to direct one's attention and concentrate on something to the exclusion¹² of other things

impact -n. the strong effect something has on another thing or person

disqualify -v. to officially stop someone from participating in an event, activity, or organization

devastating -adj. extremely upsetting and destructive

calculation -n. the process of working something out mathematically

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

3 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。