The question is not whether Canada’s military should be funding obesity surgery, but how a person in uniform can get to the point where such surgery is required.
The Department of National Defence says it spends about $200,000 a year on weight-loss procedures at private surgery clinics for military personnel who are morbidly obese. The military began funding the operations about 10 years ago, and about a dozen people a year undergo the surgery.
Maj. Nicole Meszaros, a spokesman for Canadian Forces health services, says the surgeries are not a sign of a poor level of physical fitness among those serving in the military, but merely a reflection of society.
While it’s true that the rate of obesity is rising in Canada and elsewhere, that’s no reason to lower the bar in the military. Soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen should be above average in physical strength and agility. They should not be following a downward trend, but leading the upward trend.
After all, it was the Royal Canadian Air Force that developed the 5BX (Five Basic Exercises) plan in the late 1950s that became one of the most popular fitness programs of its era. About 23 million copies of the 5BX booklet were distributed to the public, and as the plan gained popularity around the world, it was translated into 13 languages. Actor George Burns told CBC Radio in 1970 that he followed the 5BX routine religiously. Despite his cigars, he lived to be 100.
Exercise physiologists considered some of the 5BX routines hazardous in an unsupervised environment and the Canadian military stopped using it in 2008, but it is still a benchmark in physical fitness. Rather than stooping to conform to lower standards, Canada’s military raised the standard.
Every person in uniform — naval officer, army clerk, gunner or pilot — undergoes basic training that includes handling weapons and physical defence. Every person in uniform, regardless of role, should be able to step up at any time to defend the nation against an enemy or assist in case of an emergency.
So how does a person in uniform get from the rigours of basic training to needing a gastric bypass or a lap band? It doesn’t happen instantly, and it shouldn’t happen unnoticed. Regular fitness tests should provide the motivation and information needed to ward off obesity and prompt preventive measures.
That is not to oversimplify the problem of obesity. The problem is much more complex than banning beer and bread and increasing physical activity, although that wouldn’t hurt. Some people gain weight much more easily than others and need professional counsel in charting a path to better fitness. Obesity can be a serious health problem requiring medical expertise. “Lose some weight, soldier!” doesn’t really cut it.
Canada’s military needs 4,000 new recruits a year to maintain its complement of 48,000 people in uniform, and has had to accept a lower standard of physical fitness among recruits. An audit released in August shows the military has had to accept recruits who are fatter, less educated and harder to motivate than those in the past. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing — it can be an opportunity to lift those recruits to a better standard.
The Canadian Forces have already taken steps in the right direction, implementing a new physical fitness test that better reflects the tasks military personnel are called on to perform, such as carrying sandbags. The government should ensure commanders have the resources to motivate and train recruits to a higher standard.
“Ready, aye ready!” should be more than a jingoistic rallying cry; it should be a firm commitment to being prepared, physically as well as mentally.
