See other Israel/Zionism Articles
Title: Spooked by obesity trends, the U.S. military is redefining its basic fitness standards
Source:
[None]
URL Source: http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News ... u-s-military-is-redefining.htm
Published: Aug 9, 2016
Author: tilghman
Post Date: 2016-08-09 16:54:33 by NeoconsNailed
Keywords: None
Views: 499
Comments: 2
For the first time in 14 years, the military is rewriting its body composition standards and the methods used to determine whether troops are too fat to serve. Pentagon officials intend to publish a new policy later this year, a document expected to have sweeping effects on how the military defines and measures health and fitness. The review comes amid rising concern about obesity. Among civilians, it is shrinking the pool of qualified prospective recruits. And in the active-duty force, a rising number of overweight troops poses risks to readiness and health care costs. “You can look around and see all the soldiers that are pushing that belly,” said Dr. David Levitsky, a professor of nutritional science and human ecology at Cornell University who has studied military nutrition and obesity. “They have to do something about it.” The current policy requires service members to maintain body fat levels below a key threshold — 26 percent for men and 36 percent for women. And for years the Pentagon has required the services to enforce that using a notoriously low-tech “tape test.” Those standards are at the core of long-simmering controversies that pit questions of fairness against those of military readiness. Troops who fail to pass the test are enrolled in remedial fitness programs that can stigmatize or even end a military career. Yet many others believe rigid fitness standards are a vital component of the military profession, rules that stress the importance of military bearing and ultimately save lives on the battlefield. Today, new research and technology is available, enabling the military's health experts to reassess the value, practicality and fairness of those rules. The objective now is to identify and leverage the best, most financially feasible way to distinguish between troops who are truly unhealthy and those who have nontraditional body types but are otherwise fit........ Poster Comment: Ah, FAIRNESS.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: NeoconsNailed (#0)
Here's a new recruit for ya.. What nonsense. In wartime, my day of induction, there were 714 of us that went in at six AM, at 6 PM all 714 were inducted into the military.
"After tomorrow those SOB's will never embarrass me again. That’s not a threat. That’s a promise.” – LBJ to his mistress Madeleine Brown on the eve of JFK assassination 
#2. To: NeoconsNailed (#0)
the U.S. military is redefining its basic fitness standards
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest