2021 Health of the Force Report Highlights
Arrows indicate the direction of change comparing 2019 data to the 2020 data
reported.
GREEN denotes change in the desired direction;
RED denotes change
in the undesired direction.
DEMOGRAPHICS
|
Approximately
474,000 AC Soldiers
| 77% <35 years old
15% female
| 21% Black or African American
16% Hispanic or Latino
|
COVID-19
67 cases of COVID-19 per 1,000 person-years were reported among Soldiers in 2020. Soldiers <25 years old had the highest rates, potentially due to the large number of trainees who were tested upon arrival to Initial Entry Training.
Substantial changes in the prevalence and incidence of many medical metrics were observed, likely an outcome of the pandemic and associated changes in healthcare utilization as well as military training and operations.
INJURY
49% of Soldiers were diagnosed with a new injury in 2020, a
decrease of 11% from 2019. Most injuries (70%) were cumulative musculoskeletal (MSK) overuse injuries.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
15% of Soldiers had a diagnosis of one or more BH disorders, a
decrease of 5.4% from the previous reporting year.
SLEEP DISORDER
9.0% of Soldiers had a sleep disorder diagnosis, a
decrease of 35% from the previous reporting year.
OBESITY
18% of Soldiers were classified as obese (Body Mass Index (BMI)>30) in 2020, an
increase of 7.9% from the previous reporting year. Racial disparities remained constant with Asian Soldiers having the lowest prevalence of obesity and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Soldiers having the highest prevalence of obesity.
HEAT ILLNESS
2.6 cases of heat illness per 1,000 personyears were reported for Soldiers in 2020, a
decrease of 23% from the previous reporting year.
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
21 new chlamydia infections were reported per 1,000 person-years, a
16% decrease from the previous reporting year.
CHRONIC DISEASE
17% of Soldiers had a diagnosis of one or more chronic diseases, an
11% decrease from the previous reporting year.
AIR QUALITY
6.8% of Soldiers were assigned to an installation experiencing high-risk air quality (>20 poor air quality days/year), an
increase from 6% in 2019. 3% of Soldiers at U.S. bases, and 45% of Soldiers at bases outside the U.S., were in a high-risk location.
SOLID WASTE DIVERSION
58% of installations tracked in this report met the Department of Defense (DOD) solid waste diversion goal, an
improvement over 49% in 2019. 47% of installations in the U.S., and 91% of installations outside the U.S., met the goal.
SLEEP
38% of Soldiers attained 7 or more hours of sleep during work/duty weeks, which is
consistent with data from 2019.
NUTRITION
<50% of Soldiers met the nutrition targets of eating 2 or more servings of fruits per day (30%) or 2 or more servings of vegetables per day (40%), which is
consistent with data from 2019.
