Obesity among young Americans has been a major challenge for US military recruiters, as has an increase in chronic illness.

Military recruitment is not easy. The military has to compete with private industry for talent. And the stresses of military life—early mornings, rigid command hierarchies, and the danger of war—is not for everyone. Recruiting can thus be a challenge at best of times. 

The US Army, for example, has nearly 500,000 active duty soldiers. Every month, several thousand soldiers retire or finish their contracts. Accordingly, recruiters need to constantly find new candidates who can pass boot camp and specialty training.

These efforts are undermined by high obesity levels in America’s youth, as well as the growing prevalence of chronic diseases. However, even as these factors have presented a recruitment challenge for years, the military had a good year recruiting new soldiers in 2025.  

American Obesity Has Led to a Recruitment Crisis  

In 2023, the Army was at its lowest force since the end of World War II. The service had failed to meet its recruitment goal by approximately several thousand recruits—the second consecutive year that it failed to recruit enough new soldiers. A major reason behind poor recruitment numbers was the smaller pool of acceptable candidates due to obesity, especially in the Gen Z cohort.

According to 2024 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two in five American adults are obese, while more than 33 percent of young adults aged 17 to 24 are disqualified from military service due to their weight. 

Of the “Gen Z” population—consisting of people born between 1997 and 2012—some recent estimates have indicated that only around one in four is eligible for military service. Though the largest factor contributing to ineligibility has been obesity, other adverse factors include lack of education, drug use, and tattoos, although the policy against the latter has been relaxed in recent years.

Although the advance of technology has created military occupational specialties that do not require as much physical fitness as infantry or other frontline combat positions, a healthy level of fitness is nonetheless mandatory for military service. This is particularly true of the US Marine Corps, which treats every Marine first and foremost as a rifleman who must be ready for combat at a moment’s notice—even those in specialized roles.  

Recruitment quotas are set every year by each individual service in consultation with the Pentagon and reflect the operational situation and future strategic demands.  

In response to the successive recruitment failures, the Army began a recruitment initiative to attract more candidates. To attract potential soldiers who might be overweight, the Army set up the Future Soldier Prep Course, allowing applicants to improve their fitness or test scores before boot camp. The other services established similar initiatives designed to attract and recruit more people.

The Army’s Recruitment Numbers Were Up in 2024 and 2025

These programs appear to have been effective. In 2024, the Army not only met but exceeded its recruitment goals earlier than anticipated. And the positive recruiting pace continued last year, when the Army met its recruitment goal of 61,000 new troops—a bump from 2024’s goal of 55,000 recruits.  

“I’m incredibly proud of our US Army recruiters and drill sergeants,” Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll said in June. “Their colossal efforts and dedication to duty helped the US Army accomplish our FY25 annual recruiting goal a full four months ahead of schedule.” 

These positive results were not unique to the Army. Indeed, all the services met or exceeded their recruitment goals in 2025. The Navy achieved 108.61 percent of its goal, the Air Force 100.22 percent, the Marine Corps 100 percent, and the Space Force 102.89 percent.  

Judging from the last couple of years of data, the military is doing a much better job at recruiting. Although the service has not provided specific data on the age of its new recruits, it is safe to assume that a good portion of new soldiers are from the Gen Z age group.  

About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou  

Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.   

Image: Shutterstock / Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB.

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