Army complains:

18-year-old men getting fatter, but hardly any taller

The armed forces have been plagued by recruitment problems for years. One reason for this is the increasing number of overweight young men. In 2022, for example, a quarter of obese men were classified as unfit or only partially fit for military service.

Since 1990, the average body weight of 18-year-old male Austrians has increased by 6.4 kilograms, from 70.7 kilograms to 77.1 kilograms, posted Austrian Armed Forces spokesman Michael Bauer on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. In the same period, however, the average height of men has only grown by 1.4 centimeters - from 177.1 to 178.5 centimeters, Bauer continued.

In a study published in 2022, a research team led by Gerhard Prager from the Obesity Outpatient Clinic at MedUni Vienna's Department of General Surgery used the health data of young men in the Austrian Armed Forces to show that the prevalence of obesity has increased and, in particular, obesity (an increase in body fat above the normal level, note) grades 2 and 3 have increased disproportionately.

According to data from Statistics Austria, 3.7 million people over the age of 15 are overweight in Austria, around 17% of whom are already obese. By the age of eight, one in three boys and one in four girls are already overweight or obese.

More and more young men with obesity
Obesity is on the rise, especially in industrialized countries. In Germany, for example, this can be seen in a 15-year comparison of young men who are examined for their fitness for military service. Between 2003 and 2018, the number of obese young men rose to more than ten percent.

According to the WHO, adults with a body mass index - the ratio of weight to height squared (kg/m²) - of 25 or more are considered overweight, while experts speak of obesity from 30. Data from Austria shows that around a quarter of children and young people and more than half of adults are currently overweight or obese - and the trend is unfortunately rising.

Many unfit due to obesity
As Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) explained at a media event in January, the unfitness of young men is mainly due to a lack of physical fitness, particularly due to obesity, and increasing mental stress.