The new body-fat standards are between 18% and 26% for men and between 26% and 36% for women, according to a Dec. 18 memo from undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness Anthony J. Tata that the Pentagon released on Monday.
“The upper limit for allowable [waist-to-height ratio] for military service body-composition policies shall be less than 0.55,” the memo says.
The ratio is determined by dividing waist measurement by height.
Under the policy, service members with a waist-to-height ratio of 0.55 or above will be further tested and, if found to exceed body-fat standards, will be placed in their service’s remedial programs and referred to medical authorities for an evaluation, according to the memo.
fucking… what? im certainly no nutritionist but taking ssome random waist-height ratio seems entirely unrelated to fat? muscles make your waist bigger don’t they?
Doing basic BMI calculation is notoriously bad at assessing actual body-fat % in athletes and other highly muscled people. BMI uses weight to height ratio primarily, and this is even worse by using waist to height ratio.
It says they’re just using BMI as a fast negative check, but do real body fat assessment for the positive check
its just absurd to imagine one of those tiny muscle-men getting sent to a doctor for being ripped and short because the leadership is so obsessed with aesthetics
It’s Potsdam Giants bullshit for the 21st century but they don’t even march prettily