To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy to treat obesity as a disease and reduce the prevalence of obesity in certain Armed Forces, and for other purposes.

This bill tells the Department of Defense to treat obesity like a disease and work to lower obesity rates among service members. Within one year of becoming law, the department must create a plan to align its programs with this approach, coordinate efforts across the military, review and update health programs, improve nutrition training for military doctors, and make sure troops with obesity can get appropriate treatment. It must also run an education campaign for service members and military health providers on preventing, diagnosing, and treating obesity, and develop the plan in consultation with Health and Human Services and Medicare/Medicaid officials.

The bill adds new tracking and reporting. The department must start including data on unmet weight standards in reports to Congress about enlistment disqualifications, disabilities, and medical discharges. It must report within one year on how obesity affects military readiness and suggest any needed changes to law. The Defense Health Agency must report each year on how well the military’s obesity, food, and nutrition programs are working, and the Government Accountability Office must review these programs and recommend improvements .

Key points

• Who is affected: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force; military health providers; Department of Defense; Government Accountability Office.
• What changes: A one-year plan to treat obesity as a disease; an education campaign for troops and providers; new data added to reports; readiness and program-effectiveness reports; an outside review by GAO .
• When: Most actions start within one year of the law taking effect; the Defense Health Agency report repeats every year after that.