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Members of the armed forces are not covered by provincial medicare, relying on National Defence to provide their health care, whether internally or by purchasing outside services.

Weight-loss, or bariatric, surgery is designed to restrict how much food someone can ingest at any given time, and research suggests that it is a valuable treatment for the very obese who cannot lose weight by other means, and face a slew of health risks.

The military shouldn’t reflect the general population

The Forces’ members receive one of three types of bariatric operations: gastric banding, gastric bypass and vertical sleeve, the cost between $16,000 and $18,500, said Maj. Meszaros.

All troops are subject to the so-called “universality of service” requirement, which means they must be able to perform basic military tasks like carrying heavy weights, be capable of deployment to foreign places, and stay “more physically fit than the general Canadian population” — as well as doing their job’s specific duties.

After weight-loss surgery, troops are given time to recover and try to start losing weight before decisions are made about whether they meet universality of service and can stay in the Forces, said Maj. Meszaros.

Yet the universality of service requirement has generated controversy in recent years, as some soldiers disabled by wounds in Afghanistan have allegedly been forced out of the military.

Pat Stogran, a retired army colonel and former veterans’ ombudsman, complained in 2011 that the same standards were not applied to the many “fat plugs” he said worked at National Defence headquarters, did not meet universality, and yet managed to keep their jobs.

“There are guys who’ve got prosthetic limbs who can do a hell of a lot more physically … than some guys in headquarters can, basically because they’re obese,” argued Mr. Taylor.

Being morbidly obese does not necessarily mean a service member is unfit to serve, said Maj. Meszaros, who cited one soldier who weighs close to 300 lbs. yet just returned from a deployment in Afghanistan, and can run 10 kilometres.

“I know several people who fit into that category, and I know that they are still able to meet all the conditions imposed upon them.”

National Post

tblackwell@nationalpost.com