Body Composition and Physical Performance Applications for the Military Services (1990) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction and Background
1 Introduction and Background
Pages 3-24
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Can or should physical performance assessments be used as criteria for establishing body composition standards in the services?
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Current physical standards place upper limits on body fat as assessed from anthropometric measurements, including height, weight, skinfold thicknesses, body diameter measurements, and body circumference measurements. Body composition in terms of body fat mass (BFM)
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The rationale for this policy is that high levels of physical activity during basic training result in a loss of body fat and a gain in LBM in the overfat individuals. Thus military recruits can be accepted that exhibit higher body weight for their height than will subsequently be permitted by retention standards.
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Studies in humans have shown that there is frequently minimal or no relationship between food intake and body fatness for individual people (Thomas et al., 1961~. METHODS FOR ASSESSING BODY COMPOSITION Definition of Terms Because a number of recent articles have reviewed methods for assessing human body composition (Buskirk, 1987; Heymsfield and Waki, 1991; Lukaski, 1987; Smalley et al., 1990)
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Using them in older military personnel also may identify individuals, with or without obesity, who are at increased health risk, and who should receive special attention for weight or body fat reduction. Densitometry Densitometry has generally been considered the standard against which all other techniques for measuring body composition are compared.
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As with the calculation of body composition from anthropometric data, underwater weighing measurements may have significant error. The technique requires special equipment and highly specialized training, which limit its use to specialized facilities.
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Alterations in body composition with age also exacerbate the problem of differences in accession versus retention standards for excess body weight and body fatness. The rationale for the difference between accession and retention standards in some branches of the military appears to be related to high levels of physical activity during basic training, which usually produce losses in body fat and gains in LBM.
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Race and Ethnic Group The majority of studies evaluating body composition have been done in Caucasians. Many investigators have recognized that the methods currently used do not accurately predict body composition in Blacks, and their applicability to other racial and ethnic groups, such as Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans is uncertain (Marina, 1971; Mueller et al., 1987; Mueller and Malina, 1987; Zillikens and Conway, 1990~.
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BODY WEIGHT, COMPOSITION, AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE The rationale for current standards for body weight and body composition in the military is that these measures are correlated with performance of military duties, appearance, and overall health. In contrast to past standards, which were designed to exclude underweight or chronically ill individuals from active duty, the primary concern of the current standards is to address excess weight in the military population.
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However, both load carrying and lifting ability, as well as performance during running, sit-ups, and push-ups, are impaired in significantly obese individuals. RELATIONSHIP OF LEAN BODY MASS VERSUS BODY FATNESS TO PERFORMANCE OF PHYSICAL TASKS As noted above, the compartments of the body may be divided into LBM and BFM.
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Fatness was associated with longer load carrying time to cover a given distance, and LBM was associated with faster load carriage time. Thus, lean individuals with a small LBM, or obese individuals with a high body fatness, would be expected to do poorly on load carrying tests.
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speculated that women and men with a low BMI do not have sufficient muscle mass to endure vigorous physical training under the conditions present in military basic training programs. Again, this seems to suggest that the absolute amount of LBM is a critical factor and provides justification for assessment of LBM and physical performance ability in military recruits before accession.
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Given the high cost of obesity in terms of health risk, Bray recommended large-group behavior modification in the work place as the most cost-effective treatment for obesity. Body fat distribution may be more important than total body weight or body fatness as a risk factor for several diseases including hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
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abdominal overweight. Evaluation of ethnic group differences is complicated by the fact that new immigrants have a smaller stature and lower body weights than do later generations (see Chapter 131.
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ASSESSING BODY COMPOSITION FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO FAIL TO MEET MILITARY STANDARDS For individuals who fail to meet performance standards or subjective standards of trim military performance, appropriate therapy and administrative actions for weight reduction and weight control are warranted within military guidelines. Anthropometric techniques such as circumferences or skinfold measurements, currently in accordance with published procedures, should be used as the first assessment of body fat burden.
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COMMENTS ON BODY COMPOSITION STANDARDS The standards for weight and body fatness for accession and retention in the military services are significantly different for men and women. The standards recognize that women have a higher percent body fat than men; the Department of Defense standard levels of body fatness are 20 percent for men and 26 percent for women.
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1983. Age changes in body composition revealed by computed tomography.
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1991. Body composition in humans: Advances in the development of multicompartmental chemical models.
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1987. Methods for the assessment of human body composition: Traditional and new.
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1980. An investigation of assessment techniques for body composition of women Marines.
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