Too Fat To Fight?

A serviceman weighing 23 stone was discharged for being “too fat” for the armed forces.

16:41 19 October 2015

A member of the British arm forces weighing 23 stone was dismissed after deemed too unhealthy to perform military duties and after repeatedly failing fitness test. He joins some sixty-eight personnel who were medically discharged between January 2007 and March this year.

 

Tam Fry, National Obesity Forum lobbyist, told the Times: “I think it’s ridiculous.

 

“The military authorities should be regularly assessing these people so they should never get in that state in the first place.

 

“All food available in military camps should be as healthy as can be.”

 

Meanwhile, a separate statistics reveal how 5,828 army soldiers or 6.7per cent of the army’s regular soliders, had a body mass index of more than 30. Their age, height, and weight are calculated to obtain BMI, which is used to quantify the amount of tissue mass. A value of more than 30 is considered obese. As of April 30, 2,552 sailors and 1,551 air force personnel have BMI of more than 30.

 

The Ministry of Defence said the measurements are a “simple index” and pointed out they do not differentiate between fat and muscle mass.

 

A spokesman said: “It is a condition of derive that our personnel must be fit and healthy, and the vast majority pass the regular, challenging fitness tests.

 

“If they fail, they are put on a targeted programme to help them back to the required levels”