Air Force Loosens Standards To Make Room for Overweight Recruits

The Air Force is lowering its standards to counter dismal recruitment numbers, as the military’s pool of eligible recruits continues to shrink. The Air Force will now recruit men with up to 26 percent body fat and women with up to 36 percent, an increase from the previous standards of 20 percent and 28 percent, respectively. The branch is expected to fall short of its recruitment goal by 10 percent this year, Fox News reported.

"While recruits will be allowed to join with greater body fat percentages, they will still be expected to meet the same fitness standards as everyone else to stay in the service," said Air Force Recruiting Service spokeswoman Leslie Brown.

The new standards for body fat percentage would permit overweight recruits to join the Air Force. "Women with more than 30 percent body fat and men with more than 25 percent body fat are considered obese," according to Penn Medicine. Between ages 20 and 39, it is unhealthy for men to have more than 19 percent body fat and for women to have more than 32 percent body fat, per the American College of Sports Medicine.