DoD Body Composition Standards, Military Appearance, etc.

Summary: The DoD #bodyFat equations overpredict 72% of females and 28% of males. The weight and body #fat standards lead to #eatingDisorders among Marines and females. Authors call for healthier standards.

Analysis: Fat matters.

The military body fat standards are only tangentially about "fitness". At its core, the standards reflect the People's ideals of a military appearance. The American People want a military that looks good, and fit to fight, et al. So the authors' focus on health is misplaced. (Obviously, all Marines care about military appearance, [otherwise they'd Army,] so maybe they just neglected to discuss that.)

Obviously, relaxed body fat standards would dramatically improve retention in the Reserve Components. But most of those soldiers probably prefer a sureshot and maintainable weightloss method instead.

A discussion of a military #bodyComposition standard inevitably has to deal with ideal body images, what "military appearance" means. As students of female uniform history know, female "military appearance" is a complicated subject all its own. So we're not getting anywhere on this before America faces a full reckoning on what the People wants.