By the Number: 9 August 2021

By the Number: 9 August 2021

$3 Billion

The amount that the Department of Defense spends annually on "medical costs of lifestyle-related morbidity," according to a recent article in the journal Military Medicine -- Knowledge and Attitudes of Lifestyle Medicine–Based Care in a Military Community.

Military service members and veterans engage in unhealthy behaviors at a higher rate than the civilian population. Lifestyle medicine may mitigate lifestyle-related chronic diseases and increase medical readiness in the U.S. Military.
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Despite an overall low level of awareness of lifestyle medicine, most respondents expressed interest in a lifestyle medicine approach to health care, with food/nutrition and sleep ranked as the most important domains. Lower levels of education may be a potential barrier to patient willingness to engage in lifestyle medicine care. Service members in combat arms occupational specialties may represent a potential target population for smoking cessation interventions.