What does the army consider an obese soldier?

2018-10-26T18:39:11-04:00

We've all read articles on it, or seen them online. I want your opinions, what do you think the army considered obese, and in what ways do you think it's causing problems in the military? And how can it be solved?

Response by Maj John Bell made Oct 26 at 2018 6:46 PM

2018-10-26T18:46:23-04:00

Don't know about the Army, or the current USMC standard; but it used to be 18% body fat for men. I apologize but I did do not know what the standard was for women. Usually determined by skin pinch calipers, but A Marine could also submit a full body immersion or body density electric resistance test.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2018 7:54 PM

2018-10-26T19:54:15-04:00

Those who fail height & weight and tape, regardless of how out of date BMI is. Oh, and those who simply look obese. It's worse if you can't pass the APFT.

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made Oct 26 at 2018 10:08 PM

2018-10-26T22:08:02-04:00

The military falls under the DoD (obviously), a government agency. Thus the military is going to use federal guidelines to designate those kinds of things.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2018 10:50 PM

2018-10-26T22:50:52-04:00

When you see those articles about obese, they are referring to BMI. A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese by the medical community.

Response by LT Brad McInnis made Oct 27 at 2018 12:07 AM

2018-10-27T00:07:12-04:00

My 2 cents.. I don't know if they updated the BCI charts used, but when I was in they were horrible. Had a senior NCO, awesome sailor, big weightlifter, and he would fail the BCT every year because he was big. He became the unit's PT leader, and I took him to get a water buoyancy measurement, and every year I had to submit that with his record. Hopefully, that has changed since then...

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2018 12:58 AM

2018-10-27T00:58:56-04:00

Just look in the AR for ABCP - it's right there what's considered obese. They're allegedly reviewing that but we see how long those reviews take. They do need to find a better way because basing anything on the antiquated model of BMI is ridiculous.