The effect of proposed improvements to the Army Weight Control Program on female soldiers.
OBJECTIVE
To comply with Army Regulation 600-9, The Army Weight Control Program (AWCP), soldiers must meet age-adjusted body fat standards, regardless of whether they meet or exceed weight-for-height allowances. Recent revisions to Department of Defense (DoD) policies require changes to the AWCP. Specifically, we assessed the effects of increasing weight-for-height allowances and adoption of the DoD body fat equation on compliance with the AWCP in women.


METHODS
Weight, height, circumferences (neck, forearm, wrist, waist, and hip) to measure body fat, and Army Physical Fitness Test results were obtained from 909 female soldiers (mean (SD) age, 26.2 (6.5) years; body mass index, 24.6 (3.3) kg/m2; body fat, 29.7% (5.0)).


RESULTS
Increasing the screening weight-for-height allowances resulted in a 20% reduction in those requiring a body fat measurement (from 55% [n = 498) to 35% [n = 319]). Adopting the DoD body fat equation did not change the proportion of overfat women, i.e., noncompliant with the AWCP, (from 26% [n = 232] to 27% [n = 246]). More women with a waist circumference > 35 inches (i.e., at increased disease risk) were identified as noncompliant with the AWCP by the proposed body fat equation (from 76% [n = 61] to 96% [n = 77]).


CONCLUSIONS
Proposed changes reduce the proportion of women unnecessarily measured for body fat and do not change the proportion of women on the AWCP, yet select more women at increased disease risk and most in need of an effective intervention.
Bathalon
Gaston P
GP
U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA 01754-5007, USA.
McGraw
Susan M
SM
Sharp
Marilyn A
MA
Williamson
Donald A
DA
Young
Andrew J
AJ
Friedl
Karl E
KE
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D009657:North Carolina; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D016387:Women's Health; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation