Eating disorders in military families: a guide for San Antonio

A new way of measuring bodies

In January, the Pentagon directed every branch to assess body fat using a waist-to-height ratio. According to Military Times, the memo sets the limit at a ratio below 0.55, calls for all service members to be evaluated twice a year, and warns that failing the standard may mean withheld promotions and, with continued violations, possible separation.

The Army put its version in place on July 9. As the Joint Base San Antonio news site reported, soldiers now get a waist-to-height assessment twice per calendar year, commanders can order one at any time, and anyone who fails is enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program until they meet the standard.

Fitness standards exist for real reasons, and most people meet them without harm. For someone already vulnerable, though, a measurement with a career attached can become the start of a dangerous pattern: cutting food hard before a weigh-in, then eating urgently once it passes. Military health researchers have named this directly. In a 2023 analysis, the Defense Health Agency's surveillance team pointed to "unhealthy 'making weight' behaviors" as one possible explanation for the diagnoses they were seeing.

The pressures that add up

No single part of military life causes an eating disorder. Genetics, temperament, trauma and history all play a part. But a few features of military life press on the same places eating disorders tend to grow.

• Being measured. Regular body composition checks put weight and shape at the center of professional life, and the stakes are concrete.
• Moving. A permanent change of station means a new house, new doctors and a new routine. Any treatment that had started often stops, and the friends who noticed changes are now a time zone away.
• Deployment. Long separations change how a household eats. The service member eats on a mission schedule. The spouse at home may skip meals while holding everything together.
• Trauma and chronic stress. In all three groups above, eating disorders traveled with PTSD and other stress. Our page on eating disorders and trauma explains why the two so often appear together.

"We work on what that control is protecting before we ask anyone to let it go," says Sydney Kudeviz, LCSW, one of our therapists.

How TRICARE and VA coverage usually works

Coverage questions are often the first real obstacle, so here is what the agencies themselves say. Rules change, so confirm your own situation with your plan.

TRICARE

• Eating disorder care is a covered benefit. TRICARE covers services needed to treat eating disorders when they are medically necessary and proven, and facilities must be certified.
• Programs must be TRICARE-authorized. In its January 2026 mental health briefing, TRICARE states that all institutional facilities, including partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs, must be TRICARE-authorized.
• Active duty members need a referral and pre-authorization for any civilian mental health services, according to the same briefing. TRICARE Prime beneficiaries need a referral for PHP and IOP.
• Pre-authorization rules vary by program. TRICARE's partial hospitalization page and intensive outpatient page list who qualifies and advise checking with your regional contractor.

VA health care

• VA treats eating disorders directly. The South Texas Veterans Health Care System lists eating disorders among the conditions its mental health service treats.
• Community care needs approval. VA's community care rules require approval from your VA health care team before you see an outside provider, and that provider must be in VA's community care network. For mental health, one eligibility standard is a 30-minute average drive time or a 20-day wait.

Whether a particular program, ours included, can be used with your TRICARE or VA benefits depends on your plan, your referral and the program's status. The quickest way to know is to ask. You can send us your insurance details or call (512) 882-4599, and our admissions team will tell you plainly what we find. Our guide to insurance coverage for eating disorder treatment explains the general terms.

When outpatient support makes sense

Reach out if weigh-in cycles keep repeating, if food or exercise is taking more of your attention than your work or family, or if a loved one's eating has changed since a move or deployment. You do not need to be certain something is wrong to ask.

Empowered Treatment is an adult eating disorder program in Northwest Austin, about 80 miles up I-35 from San Antonio. We offer an intensive outpatient program at 9 hours a week and a partial hospitalization program at 30 hours a week, with therapists, registered dietitians and psychiatric care on one team. For adults who live too far to commute, our transitional housing in Austin's Hyde Park neighborhood makes day treatment possible. We work with adults from across Texas.