Fat Soldiers
 

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/health/us...s-ncxdc-120810


US soldiers are going to extremes -- taking diet pills and laxatives, even starving themselves and getting liposuction -- in order to meet the military’s weight standards, the Army Times reported Monday.

“Liposuction saved my career -- laxatives and starvation before an [Army Physical Fitness Test] sustains my career,” an anonymous soldier told the weekly paper. “I for one can attest that soldiers are using liposuction, laxatives and starvation to meet height and weight standards. I did, do and still do.”

More than a third of uniformed men and women do not meet the Army’s weight standards, according to a 2009 military fitness report, and those officers are subjected to dreaded tape measurements to determine body fat percentage.

If soldiers exceed the body fat limits, they cannot earn leadership roles or promotions, the paper said. Officers can even lose their jobs if they do not shed a significant amount weight in two months -- a very real threat, considering about 24,000 soldiers were discharged between 1992 and 2007 for failure to meet weight standards, according to a report published in Military Medicine.

“I have been on a roller coaster of gains and losses for half my military career,” one lieutenant colonel told the Army Times. “I have considered lipo, and I have certainly starved myself, dieted on only bread and water, or other similar extreme diets to make weight or tape ... And it is no secret to any leader in the military what some soldiers will do to conform to standards that have been set.”

Another soldier based at Fort Riley in Kansas told the paper she recently saw an advertisement for liposuction at the post gym. The Army Times also found ads for the cosmetic procedure in base newspapers at Fort Hood, Tex., Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Campbell, Ky.

Meanwhile, military leaders and doctors continued to warn against the risks of unhealthy weight loss methods.

“I don’t think we have a clear understanding how widespread this problem is,” Col. George Dilly, Medical Command’s chief dietitian, told the paper, bemoaning the lack of empirical data about extreme dieting and cosmetic surgery among soldiers.

“Soldiers are hiding the fact they are doing this because they don’t want the problem exposed,” he added.

“We want soldiers to look right,” Dr. Thomas Williams, a retired colonel who leads the Army Physical Fitness Research Institute, told the Army Times. “But they also need to feel right and perform right, and you can’t get that from a pill or a procedure.”

Diet and exercise....

Crip

This is nothing new...been going on every since we started taping Soldiers. Diet pills, diuretics, saunas, etc....nothing new, we just added surgery to the mix.

I found it ironic though that they list doctor's concerns considering how many fat, out of shape, doctors, surgeons, dentists, etc. I've seen over the years....and as a "fat" senior NCO, I've seen the same hyprocracy in the senior leader ranks.

And it sets the example for those just starting their careers. If you're overweight, do you go to an obese trainer? If you have high blood pressure, do you go to a doctor who can't manage his/hers?

You can't help others until you help yourself.

Funny, aprox 1/3 of America is in the same boat. I guess the armed forces are nothing more than a cross section of the American culture, hot pockets, tweekers, gamers, etc.

The "tape test" has been proven to be one of the least acturate measurements of how overweight a person is, when compared to DEXA/NIR, water displacement, calipers, etc. However, it is a cheap and easy method that can be performed by just about anyone just about anywhere you have a .49 cent measuring tape. In Oct 06, the Army revised the tape test with regards to tape sites, particularly with females, so it's a start. With the potential advent of a new PT test, maybe we'll see further advancement in the tape test. :munchin

The Army serves a carbohydrate heavy diet in the mess hall then wonders why soldiers are over weight? FWIW- Losing weight is all about caloric intake. I lost 80 pounds last year. It was all about daily calories. I had no exercise plan, I was on a 1000 calorie a day diet, losing 80 pounds in 16 weeks. I now weigh 2.5 pounds less than I did a year ago. Calories, calories, calories.

Amen....

There was a time in one Major Subordinate Command which will remain anonymous, where we basically had three unofficial categories; those within H/W standards (the vast majority), those who were outside the standards and therefore pushed to improve, and those who were outside yet "above" the H/W standards and not held to the standard. When we tried to reel them in, we got nowhere fast.

Ultimately, the PT program belongs to the commander and apparently, though he did try, he couldn't push his concerns upon "some"of the higher ranking personnel in his company with success. Some of us bitched about this double standard but were shot down. Appearently, one must choose his battles wisely sometimes and choose carefully upon which confrontation one decides to fall on their sword over. I think the company commander ultimately chose wisely under that specific environment....jd

Congrats on the weight loss. 80 lbs.? 20 lbs./month? Wow. :lifter

On a very basic level, it's that simple: if calories taken in < calories expended, then you will lose weight.

Really...5%? Were you a professional bodybuilder and kept yourself in a nearly dehydrated state?

I caannot help but wonder if this might be an MOS, age and current duty station issue.

As an earlier twenties young buck abn infman in the 82nd, keeping the weight on was more a problem then worring about being overweight. At the time I weighed in around 165-170 and 5 8', with a size 32 waist and VERY little fat. Between PT and going out in the field, I seem to remember being hungry all the time. Heck, one week in the field guarrented losing 5-7 pounds. More then a week and it would begin to fall even faster.

Now pick up a copy of Time/Newsweek/NY Times, etc and if there are any pics of servicemembers downrange in Iraq or Afghan. Fat or overweight can rarely be used to describe them. They all have that thin, wiry almost gaunt look about them. Combat thins a man (and woman!) down faster then meth.

Yeah, I'm guessing this is more of an MOS and age issue.


T.