ASP in the News: President Emeritus Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret) in AP News
On Sunday, April 2nd, ASP President Emeritus BGen Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret), was quoted in an AP News article titled Pandemic pounds push 10,000 US Army soldiers into obesity. In the article, author JoNel Aleccia discusses how weight gain during the COVID-19 pandemic pushed tens of thousands of service members out of fighting shape. According to BGen Cheney,
“The steady creep of obesity among service members is alarming, the country has not approached obesity as the problem it really is.” Adding, “It is devastating. We have a dramatic national security problem.”
As overweight and obesity in Americans continues to trend upward, recruitment for the U.S. military will struggle. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already dangerous trend, and more must be done to study and combat this concerning threat to national security.
