ArticleBMC public health2012
The health and cost implications of high body mass index in Australian defence force personnel.
Article in BMC public health, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Body mass index and physical training-related injuries in military personnel: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis.BMJ military health · 2025Pooled it
- Productivity loss due to overweight and obesity: a systematic review of indirect costs.BMJ open · 2017Pooled it
- Valuing Health and Performance: A Case for Prioritizing Nutrition.Military medicine · 2025Article
- The association between obesity, health service use, and work productivity in Australia: a cross-sectional quantile regression analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Motivating Military Trainee Healthy Eating: Insight from Two Sites.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Current dietary supplement use of Australian military veterans of Middle East operations.Public health nutrition · 2017Article
- Risk factors of acute and overuse musculoskeletal injuries among young conscripts: a population-based cohort study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFrequent illness and injury among workers with high body mass index (BMI) can raise the costs of employee healthcare and reduce workforce maintenance and productivity. These issues are particularly important in vocational settings such as the military, which require good physical health, regular attendance and teamwork to operate efficiently. The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of injury and illness, absenteeism, productivity, healthcare usage and administrative outcomes among Australian Defence Force personnel with varying BMI.
methodsPersonnel were grouped into cohorts according to the following ranges for (BMI): normal (18.5 - 24.9 kg/m2; n = 197), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m2; n = 154) and obese (≥30 kg/m2) with restricted body fat (≤28% for females, ≤24% for males) (n = 148) and with no restriction on body fat (n = 180). Medical records for each individual were audited retrospectively to record the incidence of injury and illness, absenteeism, productivity, healthcare usage (i.e., consultation with medical specialists, hospital stays, medical investigations, prescriptions) and administrative outcomes (e.g., discharge from service) over one year. These data were then grouped and compared between the cohorts.
resultsThe prevalence of injury and illness, cost of medical specialist consultations and cost of medical scans were all higher (p < 0.05) in both obese cohorts compared with the normal cohort. The estimated productivity losses from restricted work days were also higher (p < 0.05) in the obese cohort with no restriction on body fat compared with the normal cohort. Within the obese cohort, the prevalence of injury and illness, healthcare usage and productivity were not significantly greater in the obese cohort with no restriction on body fat compared with the cohort with restricted body fat. The number of restricted work days, the rate of re-classification of Medical Employment Classification and the rate of discharge from service were similar between all four cohorts.
conclusionsHigh BMI in the military increases healthcare usage, but does not disrupt workforce maintenance. The greater prevalence of injury and illness, greater healthcare usage and lower productivity in obese Australian Defence Force personnel is not related to higher levels of body fat.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.