Military official urges removal of fast-food on bases to improve service members' health

As the military grapples with an increasing prevalence of clinically overweight personnel, the removal of fast-food outlets from military bases could play a pivotal role in curbing obesity rates among service members, said a senior U.S. military official, according to a report from Military Times.

“If you want to reduce obesity, serve different types of food at the chow hall,” said Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy E Black, the senior enlisted advisor to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, in an interview late last month on the “MOPs & MOEs” podcast. “Remove immediately all fast-food restaurants from all installments.”

While Black noted that dining halls sign contracts with the Defense Department, meaning they have stricter standards for nutritional quality in the food they serve, “unfortunately, it doesn’t compete with a cheeseburger” when there are fast-food locations on-base. Many American military bases have lease and franchise agreements with fast-food restaurants — like Arby’s, Dairy Queen, Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s and Panda Express, among many other — and offer them as amenities.

According to an October report from the American Security Project, nearly 70% of service members are either overweight or obese, while Defense Department data shows the obesity rate among service members has more than doubled from 10% to 21% in the last decade.