New rules allow more body fat with age

[CommunityEditor]

New body fat standards to be released in June will make allowances for increasing body fat as Marines age.

Current policy offers no adjustment for age, but does provide extra leeway for Marines who score a first-class physical fitness test.

Under the new policy, waivers will be eliminated, but allowable body fat percentages rise over time:

* Age 26 and younger: 18 percent for males and 26 percent for females.

* Age 27-39: 19 percent for males and 27 percent for females.

* Age 40-45: 20 percent for males and 28 percent for females.

* Age 46 and up: 21 percent for males and 29 percent for females.

The March 31 issue of Marine Corps Times, currently on newsstands, incorrectly reported the new standards as already existing. The mistake appeared in both the story and the corresponding chart.

The new policy, not yet officially announced, could take effect as soon as June.

The new policy will be tougher for Marines who don’t fall within their height-weight ratio, but easier on older Marines, a nod to the human body’s natural fat gain over time. As such, it is closer to the Army’s policy, although still stricter at every age.

The new standards also go well beyond body fat. Even those who meet the fat standards could be called on the carpet under a subjective new Military Appearance Program that gives individual commanders wide discretion over what a Marine should “look” like.

Once the policies are formally announced, commanders are expected to give Marines about 60 days to prepare for the new rules.

Policy shift
The new Military Appearance Program will likely affect Marines who don’t typically worry about body fat — the tall and lanky body types. It gives commanders a broad tool to call out Marines who may not be meeting common-sense criteria for fitness.

“There’s always been this expectation of what a Marine is supposed to look like. Now we are codifying what was once an unwritten standard,” said Lt. Col. John Armellino, who is overseeing development of the new fitness and health programs for Training and Education Command in Quantico, Va.

The best example?

“Excessive body fat in the abdominal region, doesn’t present the image that we want Marines to portray,” Armellino said.

Failing to meet either the body composition or military appearance standards could land a Marine in a remedial program with supervised fitness training and nutritional counseling classes. For career Marines, that’ll likely affect promotions and future assignments.

For years, these sorts of rules have received sporadic attention, depending on the commander. Officers and staff NCOs often got a pass. But that may change abruptly, as the new crackdown comes from the top.

“Commanders will enforce this,” said Commandant Gen. James Conway, during a recent interview. “A Marine should expect strict enforcement of any policy. That it hasn’t happened that way is unfortunate and problematic. But we will demand it, and we will oversee it if that’s what it takes.”

That alone will be a major shift in policy. A recent investigation by the Marine Corps inspector general’s office found that enforcement of the body composition standards has been lenient in recent years.

Last year, the IG launched a full-scale probe after routine assessments suggested a “lack of compliance” and the commandant asked investigators to quantify the trend. The investigators visited 19 units to assess the Marines’ body composition and the enforcement efforts of their commanders.

The investigators rounded up more than 4,500 Marines and actually weighed and tested 481 for body fat levels. They screened out Marines who scored higher than 200 on their recent physical fitness test and limited their detailed analyses to those who were expected to meet the lower body fat standards.

Marine Corps Times obtained a copy of the IG’s report under the Freedom of Information Act.

The investigators concluded that:

* About one in four Marines failed to meet the current standards and should have been in a remedial Body Composition Program, but were not.

* About one in three Marines who met the current height-weight requirements did not actually meet the body fat standards when tested.

* Only about one in three Marines found to be overweight was actually enrolled in a Body Composition Program.

* Marines who are sent to a Body Composition Program were disproportionately from the lower enlisted ranks. While Marines from all ranks failed the tests, 85 percent of those ultimately sent to the remedial program were sergeants or below.

* Half of the units visited had no Marines assigned to the Body Composition Program.

* Commanders were reluctant to place officers or staff noncommissioned officers into the body fat program because it might hurt their careers.

Under the new rules, however, commanders won’t have that option, at least as far as Conway is concerned. Likewise, younger Marines who are out of shape will need to shape up. And considering that PFT waivers are going away, even those PFT champs who don’t fit the classic height-weight ratio are at risk.

Fight the fat
The investigators weighed Marines in ranks from private to colonel, and found evidence that senior Marines were not held to body fat standards equally. Of the 19 units visited, 17 had no officers or staff NCOs in the remedial program, according to the report.

Of the 72 Marines who were assigned to a program, only 10 were staff NCOs and one was an officer.

In practice, Marines who meet the height-weight standard are not routinely tested for body fat levels. But when the IG’s investigators tested all Marines for body fat despite their height and weight, they were surprised to find that the height-weight ratio was not a good indicator of body fat percentage.

Among the 268 Marines who met the height-weight standard, more than half, or 151, failed to meet the body fat standard when tested, according to the report.

Follow the MAP
The Military Appearance Program is not adding any new requirements for Marines. All the standards — for body fat, for grooming, for uniforms — are already on the books.

“It’s nothing new, nothing novel,” Armellino said.

But the biggest effect of MAP may be that commanders will have a tool to prevent Marines from “hiding in the tables,” Armellino said, referring to the charts that determine height-weight cutoffs.

In other words, it could target those Marines who have been passing the height-weight requirement but are still in danger of failing the body fat standards.

The MAP isn’t that standard, however. Because it is subjective, and at the commander’s discretion, even such mild offenses as dark circles under the eyes could trigger a military appearance evaluation.

“The guy who stays up to three in the morning playing Xbox, drinking beer and ordering Domino’s Pizza and trying to get up at zero-five for PT, that is not a Marine who really exemplifies the true warrior-athlete that the commandant desires his Marines to be,” Armellino said.

It remains unclear whether Marines identified as having a military appearance problem will be automatically tested for body composition, officials said. But it’s possible. Commanders always have discretion to give a body composition evaluation at any time.

The remedial program itself will operate at the unit level and likely involve elements such as mandatory PT and dietary and nutritional counseling.

The consequences for Marines placed in the MAP remain unclear. It will not, however, involve any threat of separation.

“The commandant has not yet decided the consequences for being placed on MAP,” Armellino said. “If we go to the far end of the spectrum, it could definitely have promotion, retention and assignment implications.”

Testing methods
One of the recommendations from the IG’s report that the Corps is opting not to adopt is a change to the method for measuring body fat.

The Corps will continue to use the same method, the so-called “taping method,” which takes circumference measurements from the neck and midsection (or for women, the midsection and hips), then calculates body fat based on a mathematical formula. The method is mandated by the Defense Department and adopting an alternative method would involve an elaborate bureaucratic approval process.

The taping method gives an advantage to body types with bigger necks, and also is vulnerable to inaccuracy because midsection circumference can vary if a person makes an effort to hold in his stomach. As a result, the taping method has been a longtime source of complaints.

In 2004, a recommendation from the sergeants major symposium said: “A policy allowing Marines to have their body fat tested professionally if they fail the tape test would compensate for any individual body differences.”

Professionals typically use calipers and the “skin-fold test,” which is considered by many health experts to be a good combination of low-tech and high accuracy. The best methods — such as displacement, which requires submerging a person in a water tank and measuring the water-level rise — can be very costly.

While the IG called the taping method “adequate,” it did recommend that Marines who fail to meet standards should be given an alternative test.

“Medical personnel can easily give a Marine a more adequate body fat percentage using a set of calipers than unit training personnel who use the DoD taping system,” the report said.

Truth hurts

To read the full article, go here ---> http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/03/marine_bodyfatfix_032608w/

I have always thought the Marine Corps weight standards and methods of measuring body fat was not accurate and frankly is a joke. When I was on active duty in the Marine Corps from 97-03 I always had a problem with the Marine Corps regarding my body fat measurement. I was very athletic into basketball (5’10” dunking basketballs) and weight lifting and never made the Marine Corps weight using the Marine Corps standards. I would get taped by the Marine Corps and they would have me as 19% body fat (I have a skinny neck) and yet when I went to a civilian health facility and had my body fat done correctly the results where that my body fat was 15%. 4% is a big disparity and when a person’s career is on the line the Marine Corps needs to ensure that they use the most accurate means to measure body fat. I was always pissed when I would work out twice a day and the other Marine made weight and height requirements (because they had a big neck) and I looked better in my uniform then they did.

How in the world do you take the measurement of the waist and neck subtract the two and magically end up with a person’s body fat. I was on active duty when the Marine Corps came out with the first class PFT exemption. That did not help me because after my surgery running was not my thing any more, I could not get that speed back. I would always pass the run but excel in the rest of the PFT, which resulted in a high second class but would fall short from getting a first class PFT. That change was a start but still not an answer. I knew a staff NCO who was a body builder, arms so big he could not roll his camie sleeves all the way up. He was about six feet tall and had what I would call an average size waist (32-34), but he had a skinny neck. He would get screwed when he got taped every time. He got feed up with it and decided not reenlist. A good Marine not in the ranks any more because of the Marine Corps archaic and inaccurate measurement practices. After two surgeries I was willing to try to stay in the Marine Corps but I got tired of resulting to alternate ways of making weight. I would take laxatives and starve myself to loose muscle mass so I would make weight because the body fat measurement just was not accurate. Marines are starving themselves, making themselves throw up, sitting in the sauna for dangerous amounts of time with plastic bags and excessive clothing on to make weight. If anybody with some rank would have said something along time ago we might have been able to hold on to good Marines who were forced out or got feed up with a failed and inaccurate weight standard.

Another thing I never agreed with in regards to the Marine Corps weight standard. A woman is pregnant for nine months, it takes her nine months to gain the weight, but the Marine Corps want her to loose it in 6-8 weeks. Can’t remember exactly how long it was but either way that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. The Marine Corps needs to go back to the drawing board regarding its weight standard and how they measure and evaluate different body types.

Jeanclaude Lavalliere Jr
Former Sergeant USMC

[MarineSgtG]

I completely agree with you. The sad thing is that the DOD has known since 1998 (possibly even earlier--that was just what my research has dug up) that measuring over the hips isn't a valid way to measure body fat in a woman who has had a baby, but the military refuses to adopt a more accurate method for measurement. Anyone with even limited medical or forensic knowledge knows the bone structure of a woman is altered by having children. The pelvic bones spread to allow for the baby to pass through, and don't always return to their original position. This is why when bodies are found the medical examiner can tell if the woman ever gave birth--whether she has been dead ten minutes or four hundred years. Yet, a woman who has one, two, or six children is assumed by the military to be able to magically reduce the circumference of her hipbones. I truly do understand the need for a uniform method of measuring body fat, but the circumference method is one of the least accurate I have encountered. I spent 3 years in the training office observing people who were fat (observed) but met the numbers, while people who were clearly very fit, whose muscles were rippling under their skin, failed the numbers test. Image-wise, they were everything the Marine Corps wants in terms of the "picture perfect" Marine, but the scale and the measurements sunk their careers. Admittedly, there were those who were actually fat and were placed in the program, and I had no issues with that, but most of the women I knew had eating disorders just to stay under their max body weight (which is, by the way, anywhere from 10-25 lbs lower than the men at the same height).
As for the time to work off the pregnancy weight, it's actually 6 months, but it's still a bit unrealistic. Most civilian doctors will tell women that they shouldn't expect to physically return to their original fitness level for at least a year after giving birth, and many say to expect 2 years before everything is back to normal. Even that isn't referring to size or weight--just their strength and endurance levels. Many women, even if they resume their original weight, never resume their original size because their body structure has changed so much. Bra sizes go up (resulting in more weight), hips spread, and the body naturally prepares for the possibility of another child. Short of issuing corsets so we can force our bodies into shapes they're not naturally prepared to assume, some women may never meet their body fat standards again despite testing well on their fitness level. After my second child, I was curious to know what the real difference was between circumference and caliper testing, so every other week during my recovery I would have the fitness center measure both (the technicians were part of the Semper Fit program, trained on how to use the equipment and measure both methods). I was shocked to find that while my caliper reflected an average body fat of around 23% (well within Marine Corps standards even for a woman who is not within her six months after baby) my circumference method had me as high as 37% on the same day. 14% difference is absolutely unacceptable! That's an entire person! Yet, when I'm on promotion boards, weighed in for PFTs, etc, the numbers don't care that my body type doesn't agree with outdated research. I can run above 260 on my PFT when I'm not pregnant, but I'm still looked at as almost a lower class of Marine, even though I'm outperforming most of my peers. It seems that instead of emphasizing performance and overall fitness, we want a Corps with the right numbers in the books. That's all well and good, but it's weeding out some of the people who were our greatest physical assets. The string bean runner may look great in uniform and be able to get a 300 PFT, but could he put a 250 pound man into a fireman's carry and get him out of danger? I could, and I'd much rather have someone by my side who is physically capable of helping the injured or unconscious. Those who are succeeding in this "new Corps" seem to be getting scrawnier, thinner, and shorter. Not exactly an imposing force in the face of the enemy.
I'm extremely disappointed in this new policy. I think the commandant had an opportunity to implement realistic changes that also required greatness of the Marines, and instead, we seem to just be enforcing with more strength an already flawed system instead of taking the time and effort required to correct the problems.
Yet more good Marines lost to this regulation.

Quoting another post:
"I knew a staff NCO who was a body builder, arms so big he could not roll his camie sleeves all the way up. He was about six feet tall and had what I would call an average size waist (32-34), but he had a skinny neck. He would get screwed when he got taped every time. "

My husband falls in this category. He's a BIG GUY, but he works out everyday, bodybuilder type, and he's well over his height/weight. Probably by 20lbs or so. Then they "tape" him, and he doesn't pass... I saw him go through hell to make height/weight. He stopped with the supplements, he barely ate, he also did the sauna sessions.. And he finally made the MARINE CORPS Height/Weight standard... but in fear that he'd have to go on BCP, he did this at a rapid and unhealthy pace. Not only that, but it really made him unhappy with his appearance. He went from this BIG GUY, to an average size Joe. This killed his self-confidence.

I told him that I never wanted to see him do that again. If he is over his height/weight and he is running a 1st class, going to the gym regularly, eating healthy, and his body is fit and he looks great in uniform, then screw the standards (tactfully I mean, request mast).

Marines are role models.. Do we want our kids to see us starve ourselves and practice unhealthy ways of dealing with physical appearance?

No doubt, there are some true FAT BODIES in the Marine Corps (and in all services).. and those individuals who are lazy, de-modivated, and as the article said "The guy who stays up to three in the morning playing Xbox drinking beer and ordering Domino's Pizza and trying to get up at zero-five for PT", YEAH THERE IS WHERE THE ENERGY SHOULD BE! CRACKDOWN ON THOSE MARINES BEFORE YOU SCREW OVER THE MARINES WHO ARE ACTUALLY DOING THEIR DAMNDEST TO MEET YOUR INACCURATE, SUPERFICIAL STANDARDS.

LCpl Himes
USMC

(NOTE: Pregnant Marines have 6 months after childbirth to get back to height/weight standards before they are subject to a BCP program or disiplinary action.)

Sorry about getting the time limit wrong in regard to how long a woman has to get back in shape. 6 months is still not nearly enough time considering all the changes that occur during and after child birth.

LCpl Himes,

My wife could relate to you. She would watch me leave in the morning at 0500 to workout in the morning before I went to work and she would bet me home after work because after I got off I would go to the gym before I went home. That's after playing basketball for over an hour during lunch. I was hungry, tired, cranky and depressed because of it. One day shortly after my son was born I was coming out of the sauna after being in there for over an hour with a plastic suit on. I felt faint and dizzy, my heart was racing and I decided then I would not kill myself and leave my son with out a father and my wife without a husband just to meet a ridicules weight standard. This had been the second time something like this happened to me. The first I was a single and young LCpl. I ended up getting two bottles of IV as a result and SIQ for a day. When you have a wife and kid’s things change, my health and my family took priority over the Marine Corps at the point and time.

When I imagined a Marine when I was a civilian I saw a lean fit warrior. Then I joined and all they want is a bunch of skinny people in uniform. This recent inspection that the Marine Corps had proved that skinny does not equal healthy and fit. What kills me is those who are truly healthy and fit are doing things detrimental to there health be meet the Marine Corps standards. I am not on active duty any more so I do not have to be tactful. I wish that the commandant would grow a pair and make a meaningful change to the weight standards. The Marine Corps has traditions that have not changed very much over time. In a way that is a great tract, but it is the exact thing that holds the Marine Corps back collectively from making changes that might prove more practical and make a better Marine Corps in the long run.

Tell your husband to hang in there and not place his heath in danger by doing certain things which I have researched will weaken the heart and cause health problems. I know what it is to love the Marine Corps and want to stay in but it’s not worth compromising your health.

Former Sgt USMC

I am most concerned about the effect of these Marine's health. Psychological AND Physical Health.

I also know that Marine's are expected to "over-come and adapt" and take whatever The Corps throws your way. When you are binded by the contract, you are in their town and are expected to live by the laws (standards) that they set. If you don't like it, get out of town (be seperated).

BCP is 6+ months and adversely effects a Marines Career (Promotions, Fit-Rep, Perception, ect)
This is damaging in SO MANY ways (financial, self-esteem, modivation, ect)..

The Marines who are Gung ho and are fit and healthy, shouldn't have to deal with the hassle of what happens next if they don't tape-out or be threatened with BCP.

The Marines who are obviously overweight.. Is it because they are lazy? Or is it because of the Lack of Leadership? Or maybe a little of both. I know a good leader KNOWS his/her Marines. With that being said, has that "leader" taken the steps to get that Marine in shape?

I don't know... I may never understand.. but what I do know is that under this uniform we are still human beings.

MOSTLY...
I'd be interested to know what research has been done about the Psychological and Physical Health problems that occur in result of the whole height/weight standards, and now the MAP.

LCpl Himes
USMC

Originally Posted by MarineSgtG

It seems that instead of emphasizing performance and overall fitness, we want a Corps with the right numbers in the books. That's all well and good, but it's weeding out some of the people who were our greatest physical assets. The string bean runner may look great in uniform and be able to get a 300 PFT, but could he put a 250 pound man into a fireman's carry and get him out of danger? I could, and I'd much rather have someone by my side who is physically capable of helping the injured or unconscious. Those who are succeeding in this "new Corps" seem to be getting scrawnier, thinner, and shorter. Not exactly an imposing force in the face of the enemy.

Goods news from all of this is that supposedly in the near future there will be an additional portion of requirements for the PFT added. They will be pass or fail (like table II of the range they just added) and stress "combat physical fitness". They new portion will be done in a full combat load (I am guessing boots and uts with flak and LBV?) and will include things like firemans carries and other types of combat related events...

I am not 100% on the details as I have yet to read anything specific on this yet, just something I heard at work about it in the works for the near future.

[jhb3043]

i will post later to this thread in greater detail when i get home sometime this weekend

BUT

its high time the Corps start giong after those that AREN'T in shape. in short , the ones that struggle on the PFT, section, company, & battalion PT...

they've gone after the wrong Marines for far too long and have lost GOOD Marines in the process. myself & my twin brother included.

The updated standards have been out for 4 months. They won't be in affect until after June. This is/was plenty of time to get within the standards. If Marines did not know about the upcoming change they have weak SNCO's who are not keeping their Marines informed. I agree with the change. I believe the Marines that are complaining are the ones who have not been taking appropriate action. We need to start holding Marines accountable for there actions... or should I say their lack of actions.
SSgt