An ad hoc committee will plan and conduct a one-day public workshop that will examine the challenges posed by obesity and overweight in the armed forces and explore opportunities to overcome those challenges. The workshop will investigate what is known about the prevalence of obesity and overweight in members of the armed forces (including active duty, guard, and reserve components), their families, veterans, and retirees. Presentations and discussions will highlight the effects of obesity and overweight on recruitment, retention, readiness, and retirement, and its implications for the military health care and retirement systems. Discussion topics will highlight existing programs, practices, and policies that support healthy weight of the armed forces, military families, and communities; and the advantages and barriers in designing, implementing, maintaining, and scaling them. The workshop agenda will also explore potential future opportunities for innovative programs and partnerships inside and outside of the military sector, such as leveraging linkages between military installations and their surrounding communities.
The committee will define the specific topics to be addressed, develop the agenda, and select and invite speakers and other participants. After the workshop, staff will post the slides and video recordings of the workshop presentations to the activity website. Additionally, a proceedings of a workshop--in brief and full proceedings of the presentations and discussions at the workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.