You may recall a sorry survey I posted two years ago about the ballooning physical condition of men and women joining the U.S. military. Unfortunately, recruits are still struggling today with their weight as they are with their training.
So much so, the U.S. Army recently introduced the Assessment of Recruit Motivation and Strength (ARMS) study that tracks recruits who are allowed to take a second physical test if they're above body fat maximums. Considering about a third of the 18-year-olds who tried to join the military were judged overweight in 2005, no doubt it was necessary.
Unfortunately to corral more soldiers, the Army has lowered standards to allow men and women carrying between 30-36 percent body fat to enlist, as long as recruits reduce their weight and body fat within a year.
To protect your family, your country, your fellow soldiers and yourself, there's nothing better for beating the epidemic of obesity that's tainted America's pool of soldiers than a two-pronged approach, incorporating both diet and exercise. And, eating the right foods according to your body's unique nutritional type and treating exercise like a drug that must be prescribed precisely to do the most good will do the trick.
USA Today March 29, 2007