greater than or equal to 27.3 for women aged 20 or older. By this definition, 10.5 percent of military women under 20 years of age, 5.6 percent of military women 20 to 25 years of age, 9.1 percent of military women 26 to 34 years of age, and 11.4 percent of military women 35 years of age or older were overweight. Although these percentages for military women are well below the 15 percent goal recommended by Healthy People 2000, it is not possible to ascertain from them the proportion of active-duty women who exceed the weight standards at any one time because the current maximum weight-for-height standards correspond to BMIs of 25 or less, depending on service and age (see Table S-3 in Executive Summary).

A recently completed survey of active-duty Army personnel by Warber and coworkers (in preparation) found that of 494 female respondents, 25.1 percent had a BMI of 25 or higher, while 2.4 percent had a BMI of 30 or higher (compared with 57.6% and 5.8% of men, respectively). Thus, 74.9 percent of women and 42.3 percent of men had a BMI less than 25. Nevertheless, an average of 59.3 percent of women reported that they were trying to lose weight (54% of women 29 years of age and younger, 64% of women 30–39 years of age, and 73% of women 40 years and over), compared with 37.4 percent of all men.

The 1995 Sample Survey of Military Personnel, a cross-sectional survey of active-duty Army personnel, found that among 7,376 female respondents, 9 percent reported exceeding the Army's age-dependent body fat standards (30–36% body fat), although 20 to 28 percent reported difficulty meeting the weight standards (Verdugo, 1996).

A self-report survey administered to 9,859 Navy and Marine Corps personnel (Perceptions of Wellness and Readiness Assessment, POWR'95, as reported by Graham, 1996 and Hourani, 1996) found that in response to the question "Do you consider yourself overweight?", 46 percent of Navy women and 31 percent of Marine Corps women reported they did consider themselves overweight; these percentages are considerably higher than the actual percentages of Navy and Marine Corps women who are overweight by published standards. Minority women reported a failure to meet the standards more often than Caucasians.

A study by Rose and coworkers (1993) that examined methods of weight management by military personnel (both men and women) reported that 16.6 percent of soldiers were overweight by Army standards, although only 2.8 percent had participated in the Army Weight Control Program. In contrast to these data, the pamphlet "I Am the American Soldier" (issued by the Fort Benjamin Harrison Soldier Support Center in 1986 and cited by Rose et al., 1993) reported that between 21.1 and 34.5 percent of female soldiers exceed the maximum allowable weight and body fat standards. Of the soldiers in the Rose et al. study, 13.6 percent reported having attempted to lose weight beginning before the age of 18, which suggests lifelong weight concerns, and 85.9 percent of the soldiers were overweight according to their own personal standards. Approximately 66 percent of the soldiers reported having gained weight since accession. The data from the survey by Rose and coworkers indicate that a significant number of female soldiers who responded to the questionnaire had difficulty meeting the Army weight standards. Unfortunately, the response rate for this survey was low, only 26 percent (of a sample of approximately 4,000).

Front Matter (R1-R16)

Executive Summary (1-24)

1 Introduction (25-32)

2 Body Composition (33-60)

3 Physical Fitness Policies and Programs (61-86)

4 Weight Management (87-108)

5 Nutritional Concerns of Military Women (109-126)

6 Pregnancy and Lactation and Postpartum Return-To-Duty Fitness (127-156)

7 Conclusions and Recommendations (157-170)

Appendixes (171-172)

A Workshop Summary, Agenda, Participants, and Abstracts (173-252)

B Practices and Policies Tables (253-262)

C Military Occupational Specialty Classification Tables (263-280)

D Search Strategy for Literature Review (281-284)

E Civilian Inquiry Letter and Table of Responses (285-290)

F Abbreviations (291-294)

G Bibliography (295-334)

H Biographical Sketches (335-338)

Index (339-352)