MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) - About 135,000 young men a year are exempted from military service in Russia due to diseases caused by nutritional disorders, the head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), Anna Popova, said.
"According to the Defense Ministry's commission, about 135,000 conscripts a year are rejected due to diseases caused by nutritional disorders," Popova said while discussing the problem of obesity at a meeting of the United Russia intra-faction group at the State Duma on Wednesday.
Nutritional disorders could lead not only to obesity, but also to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, she said.
The authorities are trying to deal with the problem of unhealthy food, Popova said.
The number of obese Russians will fall gradually thanks to the measures that have been planned, she said.
The head of the Defense Ministry's Main Military Medical Directorate, Maj. Gen. Alexander Fisun, said in 2015 that approximately 30% of young men were exempted from military service for health reasons.
Rospotrebnadzor said in December 2018 that over 50% of deaths in Russia were caused by poor-quality food and nutritional disorders.