A Comparison of Obesity Prevalence: Military Health System and United States Populations, 2009-2012

This descriptive report, for 2009-2012, compares the prevalence of overweight and obese children and adults in the Military Health System (MHS) population to rates of the general U.S. population. Among children (between ages 2 and 17), trends show reductions in both groups, but that the prevalence for MHS children was significantly lower than the general U.S. population. Among adults, non-Active Duty participants had stable and comparable results in the overweight and obesity categories to their peers in the general population, but interestingly, Active Duty members were more likely to be overweight and less likely to be obese than the general U.S. population. However, both the MHS population and the general U.S. populations still had too many children and adults in the overweight and obesity categories.