The following reflection by Eziah Syed, Co-Founder, Chief of Growth & Innovation at Mend, explores how our food system influences not only our health, but our national strength.
Recently, I came across two pieces of content that made me reconsider our food system and the health of American society through a different lens — that of our soft and hard power.
Our country is facing a silent epidemic — one not driven by viruses like COVID, but by poor food and nutrition. Foods that make up roughly 60–70% of our daily calories are fueling disease. While this issue doesn’t dominate headlines like inflation or foreign policy, our nutritional status may be one of the greatest threats to our long-term economic competitiveness and military readiness.
This may sound like an exaggeration, but let me explain.
Military Readiness
I recently read an article in the Boston Herald by theologian and writer Ed Gaskin titled “America’s diet is putting our military at risk.” In it, Gaskin highlights the declining pool of eligible candidates fit for service due to rising obesity and chronic conditions:
“A majority of America’s youth are now ineligible for military service, with poor health—largely driven by diet and lifestyle—among the top barriers. In 2020, The Department of Defense reported that 77% of Americans aged 17–24 were not eligible. While disqualifiers include academic and criminal records, medical and weight issues dominate.”
He also notes that those who do enlist are not immune, facing the same poor dietary patterns as civilians — often worsened by institutional constraints. According to Gaskin, obesity affects 22% of active-duty members and 40% have at least one chronic, preventable condition. The Department of Defense has called this “a national security crisis.”
While the recruitment numbers didn’t surprise me, the active-duty data did. Having worked with DoD dietitians — some of the most highly trained and dedicated professionals I’ve met — I couldn’t imagine that 22% of active-duty members are dealing with obesity and 40% with chronic illness.
No matter how much technological superiority we have, our operators remain the backbone of our hard power. Can we accept a situation where nearly half are not at peak performance? If we can’t recruit enough people or maintain their health, what does that mean for our future readiness?
We don’t have to look far ahead to see the implications — which is why the DoD rightly calls this a national security issue. I’m confident many dedicated people are working to address it, but it needs more national attention and urgency.
National Competitiveness
One of America’s greatest sources of soft power is our economic strength and innovative workforce. We are unmatched in creating companies that shape the world. Yet, we face a paradox: in a land of abundance, we are overfed and undernourished.
This imbalance has led to rising rates of non-communicable diseases — type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease — all largely preventable through better nutrition and lifestyle. Even our children are showing early signs of metabolic and cognitive decline linked to poor diets.
The economic costs are staggering. We spend over $4.5 trillion annually on healthcare, with more than 80% going toward preventable chronic conditions tied to diet. Obesity alone costs the economy around $1.7 trillion each year, factoring in both medical expenses and lost productivity.
Malnutrition — not just from lack of food, but from too many poor-quality calories — leads to absenteeism, workplace injuries, cognitive decline, and early retirement. In short, poor nutrition is shrinking our economic potential. The Milken Institute estimated in 2018 that we lose $1.1 trillion annually in productivity due to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
As a result, our workforce is becoming less productive and less resilient. Poor metabolic health reduces both physical stamina and cognitive ability, which limits innovation and output. In physically demanding jobs, inflammation and fatigue from poor diet are leading causes of injury and attrition.
Research shows that nutrient deficiencies are linked to reduced concentration, burnout, and depression — hardly the foundation for an innovation-driven economy.
Nutrition as a Competitive Advantage
Nutrition is both a national security issue and a national competitiveness issue. Other nations with lower obesity rates and stronger public health systems benefit from more resilient, productive populations. Yet in the U.S., nutrition remains an afterthought — underfunded in policy, largely absent from medical education, and rarely prioritized in schools.
We can’t treat food and nutrition as “soft” topics. They are part of the core infrastructure of a 21st-century economy — as essential as energy, transportation, and broadband. Our future depends on the physical, cognitive, and emotional fitness of our citizens. The health of our workforce and our soldiers determines our nation’s strength.
We have the power to change this. By reimagining our food and nutrition systems, we can build a stronger, smarter, and more resilient America. It’s not just a health goal — it’s a strategic imperative.
As a proud but concerned American, I’m counting on innovators, policymakers, nutrition experts, medical professionals, academics, and public leaders to work together to redesign our nutrition and food systems — to truly fuel our nation’s health and performance.
This article was written by Eziah Syed, Co-Founder, Chief of Growth & Innovation at Mend.
