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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11949391/US-Air-Force-loosening-recruits-body-fat-requirements-26-BMI-men-36-women.html

Top Gut: US Air Force is loosening recruits' body fat requirements to
26% BMI for men and 36% for women to try to boost recruitment (despite
growing military fitness crisis)
The Air Force is allowing recruits to have a higher percentage of body
fat to broaden its pool of recruitment as it struggles to find new members
Male recruits can have 26 percent body fat while females can have 36 percent
It comes as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says obesity
among American youth is 'impacting national security'
By ANEETA BHOLE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 09:47 EDT, 7 April 2023 | UPDATED: 11:06 EDT, 7 April 2023

eView comments
The Air Force is allowing recruits to have a higher percentage of body
fat to 'broaden the pool' of Americans they can call to service as it
struggles to find new members.

Male recruits are now permitted to have up to 26 percent body fat up
from 20 percent while females can have 36 percent up from 28 percent.

According to medical experts, however, a high percentage of body fat can
increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other health
conditions with the proposed percentage points reaching 'dangerously
high' levels.

Air Force Recruiting Service spokeswoman Leslie Brown said that it's
hoped the changes will encourage more people to join, although they will
still be expected to meet the same fitness standards.

+6
View gallery
Male Air Force recruits are now permitted to have up to 26 percent body
fat up from 20 percent, while females can have 36 percent up from 28
percent

The Air Force is allowing recruits to have a higher percentage of body
fat to 'broaden the pool' of Americans they can call to service as it
struggles to find new members, says Air Force Recruiting Service
spokeswoman Leslie Brown (pictured)
+6
View gallery
The Air Force is allowing recruits to have a higher percentage of body
fat to 'broaden the pool' of Americans they can call to service as it
struggles to find new members, says Air Force Recruiting Service
spokeswoman Leslie Brown (pictured)

Brown said the new standards is one of several initiatives to increase
the pool of candidates without 'lowering standards'
+6
View gallery
Brown said the new standards is one of several initiatives to increase
the pool of candidates without 'lowering standards'

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'The Air Force is looking to open the aperture on qualifying a broader
pool of young Americans for service in the Air Force. These changes
bring the Air Force in line with DOD policy,' Brown told Fox News.

'While recruits will be allowed to join with greater body fat
percentages, they will still be expected to meet the same fitness
standards as everyone else to stay in the service. That means meeting
the waist-to-height ratio requirement the Air Force announced in January
and implemented this month.

The military service branch is expected to miss its 'active-duty'
recruiting goal by 10 percent this year after it dipped into a pool of
delayed entry applicants to meet last year's goal.

Brown said the new standards is one of several initiatives to increase
the pool of candidates without 'lowering standards.'

'We are recruiting today's generation, not my generation who joined more
than 30 years ago, where a tattoo may have been taboo but is now a
societal norm,' she told Fox News.

'Or where youth now live a more sedentary lifestyle than before – we can
take those new recruits and can promote physical fitness and overall
healthier living decisions into their everyday routines as Airmen.'

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that obesity is
a scourge on American youth and is 'impacting national security.'

It says one out of every three young adults aged 17 – 24 are too heavy
to serve in the military.

'Among the young adults who meet weight requirements, only 3 in 4 report
physical activity levels that prepare them for challenges in basic
training,' it said.

Consequently, only 2 in 5 young adults are both weight-eligible and
adequately active. In 2018 the latest figures showed that 71 percent of
young people would not be able to join the military if they wanted to.

Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General, Mark Hertling said: 'The military
has experienced increasing difficulty in recruiting soldiers as a result
of physical inactivity, obesity, and malnutrition among our nation's
youth. Not addressing these issues now will impact our future national
security.'

Brown said that it's hoped the changes will encourage more people to
join, although they will still be expected to meet the same fitness
standards
+6
View gallery
Brown said that it's hoped the changes will encourage more people to
join, although they will still be expected to meet the same fitness
standards

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that obesity is
a scourge on American youth and is 'impacting national security'
+6
View gallery
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that obesity is
a scourge on American youth and is 'impacting national security'

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The Department of Defense (DOD) spends about $1.5 billion annually in
obesity-related health care costs for current and former service members
and their families, as well as costs to replace unfit personnel.

Lost workdays due to overweight and obesity for active-duty military
personnel is 658 ,000 days per year costing DOD $103 million per year.

New research from the World Health Organization found that obesity in
the U.S. military surged during the pandemic, in the Army alone, nearly
10,000 active-duty soldiers developed obesity between February 2019 and
June 2021. Increases were seen in the U.S. Navy and the Marines, too.

More recent data won't be available until later this year, said
Koehlmoos. But there's no sign that the trend is ending, underscoring
longstanding concerns about the readiness of America's fighting forces.

Military leaders have been warning about the impact of obesity on the
U.S. military for more than a decade, but the lingering pandemic effects
highlight the need for urgent action, said retired Marine Corps
Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, who co-authored a recent report on the
problem.

'The numbers have not gotten better,' Cheney said in a November webinar
held by the American Security Project, a non-profit think tank. 'They
are just getting worse and worse and worse.'

In fiscal year 2022, the Army failed to make its recruiting goal for the
first time, falling short by 15,000 recruits, or a quarter of the
requirement.

That's largely because three-quarters of Americans aged 17 to 24 are not
eligible for military service for several reasons, including extra
weight. Being overweight is the biggest individual disqualifier,
affecting more than 1 in 10 potential recruits.

In fiscal year 2022, the Army failed to make its recruiting goal for the
first time, falling short by 15,000 recruits, or a quarter of the
requirement
+6
View gallery
In fiscal year 2022, the Army failed to make its recruiting goal for the
first time, falling short by 15,000 recruits, or a quarter of the
requirement

Brown told Fox News up to 100 more recruits will now be eligible to join
the Air Force each month.

Body mass index (BMI) is a rough estimate of body fat percentage. It's
useful as a rough guide. It has limitations, such as, people with high
muscle mass may have a high BMI without high body fat.

Accurately measuring body fat is essential for assessing health risks.

The newly proposed percentages cross the 'dangerously high' levels for
men and women according to Medical News Today.

For women ranging from 20 - 69, 36 percent is reaching dangerous high
levels while men ranging from 20 - 39, 26 percent is dangerously high.

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On Fri, 7 Apr 2023 09:05:28 -0700, a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Top Gut: US Air Force is loosening recruits' body fat requirements to
>26% BMI for men and 36% for women to try to boost recruitment (despite
>growing military fitness crisis)
>The Air Force is allowing recruits to have a higher percentage of body
>fat to broaden its pool of recruitment as it struggles to find new members
>Male recruits can have 26 percent body fat while females can have 36 percent
>It comes as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says obesity
>among American youth is 'impacting national security'
>By ANEETA BHOLE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Well Air Force people are either sitting in a chair or in a cock pit.
It is not a military branch where they will have to charge up a hill
with a M16 into entrenched in fox holes.

On 4/7/23 13:57, Thomas Gibson wrote:
> On Fri, 7 Apr 2023 09:05:28 -0700, a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Top Gut: US Air Force is loosening recruits' body fat requirements to
>> 26% BMI for men and 36% for women to try to boost recruitment (despite
>> growing military fitness crisis)
>> The Air Force is allowing recruits to have a higher percentage of body
>> fat to broaden its pool of recruitment as it struggles to find new members
>> Male recruits can have 26 percent body fat while females can have 36 percent
>> It comes as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says obesity
>> among American youth is 'impacting national security'
>> By ANEETA BHOLE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
>
> Well Air Force people are either sitting in a chair or in a cock pit.
> It is not a military branch where they will have to charge up a hill
> with a M16 into entrenched in fox holes.

Many in the Air Force have to do the physical work of keeping
all airplanes and other equipment maintained and repaired.

I'm over 50 years past my military service time.
But today I saw my doctor, by the way, my BMI was 25.5.
You want your employees to be healthy enough to accomplish most jobs,
and to generally stay healthy, and stay alive.

"Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. At
least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight
or obese. 44% of the diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease
burden and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable
to overweight and obesity.

About 205,000,000 results (0.55 seconds)
Participants who reported being overweight or obese as young adults had
mortality rates that were 19% (95% confidence interval: 12, 27) and 64%
(95% confidence interval: 52, 78) higher, respectively, than those of
their normal weight counterparts.May 13, 2015

Body Mass Index in Young Adulthood, Obesity Trajectory, and ...
>

>
>
>
>

On Fri, 7 Apr 2023 16:03:27 -0700, a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths

Everybody has to die of something sometime.

On 4/7/2023 3:57 PM, Thomas Gibson wrote:
> On Fri, 7 Apr 2023 09:05:28 -0700, a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Top Gut: US Air Force is loosening recruits' body fat requirements to
>> 26% BMI for men and 36% for women to try to boost recruitment (despite
>> growing military fitness crisis)
>> The Air Force is allowing recruits to have a higher percentage of body
>> fat to broaden its pool of recruitment as it struggles to find new members
>> Male recruits can have 26 percent body fat while females can have 36 percent
>> It comes as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says obesity
>> among American youth is 'impacting national security'
>> By ANEETA BHOLE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
>
> Well Air Force people are either sitting in a chair or in a cock pit.
> It is not a military branch where they will have to charge up a hill
> with a M16 into entrenched in fox holes.

Just have to increase fuel loads on AF aircraft in order to get all that
fat off the ground. I remember when pilots for fighter air craft had to
be somewhat diminutive and when Astronauts had tough dietary rules.

Maybe that is why America's Hyper-sonic birds are only half as fast as
China and Russia's. American Pilots that weigh twice as much.
>
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