EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) is introducing a bill to reduce the risk of early-onset diabetes and obesity in the U.S. military amid increasing scrutiny on the subject.

The military has lessened its stringent health requirements to cope with lagging recruitment numbers, contributing to an obesity crisis in the armed forces. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth voiced outrage about the matter in April, vowing to increase military standards in response. Buchanan, vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and chairman of the Health subcommittee, is hoping to help with a bill that would establish a continuous glucose monitoring pilot in the Department of Defense, providing CGMs for those who have pre-diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, or are overweight or obese.

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The Fostering Operational Readiness through Continuous Evaluation of Fitness with Integrated Technology (FORCE-FIT) Act aims to support those with obesity-related conditions in the military and encourage them to be healthier. The pilot program would last five years and be paired with programs promoting metabolic health awareness, education, and other services.

“Our military is facing a national security challenge from within: too many young Americans are medically unfit to serve due to obesity and chronic disease,” Buchanan said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “My FORCE-FIT Act invests in cutting-edge preventive tools to help improve health, increase deployability, and support our nation’s servicemembers. By addressing metabolic health early, we can reduce long-term healthcare costs, strengthen our forces, and ensure military readiness for the future.”

Buchanan’s bill won the support of the American Diabetes Association.

“Technological advances, such as continuous glucose monitors, enable people with diabetes to manage their condition more safely and effectively, to maintain their health. It also holds potential benefits for those at risk of developing diabetes. Being in good health is particularly critical for people in the U.S. military, who work tirelessly to be fit to serve our nation. We applaud this measure, which will make CGM technology available to the military and support the national security and health access objectives of our country,” American Diabetes Association Senior Vice President Nuha Ali ElSayed, M.D., M.S., said in a statement.

Buchanan introduced two bills in February to conduct a study on obesity in the military and develop a strategy to combat it.

Hegseth brought the matter to the forefront in April, when he shared a report from the Military Times on a study from the American Security Project, which found that over two-thirds of U.S. reservists are overweight.

“Completely unacceptable. This is what happens when standards are IGNORED — and this is what we are changing. REAL fitness & weight standards are here. We will be FIT, not FAT,” he said in a post on X.

The white paper cited by Hegseth warned of major problems related to the large percentage of overweight servicemembers.

“Weight-related illnesses in the National Guard and reserves present a growing threat to manpower, mission readiness, and service member well-being,” it reported.

“Despite new preparatory courses helping to drive up recruitment numbers, the reserve component disqualifies thousands of applicants for overweight and obesity each year, and weight-related health complications are major drivers of early separation. Injuries, lost productivity, and hospital visits due to obesity and its over 200 associated conditions hamper reserve component readiness to respond to threats both overseas and at home,” the report added.

HEGSETH CRITICIZES OVERWEIGHT RESERVE TROOPS: ‘FIT, NOT FAT’

Despite the problem of overweight servicemembers being known for some time, it has only gotten worse. Data from 2018 found that 65% of reserve servicemembers were overweight, a share that grew to 68% this year. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data found that roughly 74% of U.S. adults are considered overweight, with 43% being obese.

The Military Times report cited Walter Reed Army Institute of Research data revealing that the leading disqualifier of applicants for the National Guard and reserves in 2017 was “nutritional, endocrine, and metabolic disorders, a category that is mainly comprised of weight-related conditions (i.e., obesity).”