US navy loosens body fat guidelines after losing too many talented sailors

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/06/us-navy-loosens-body-fat-guidelines

New rule allows sailors to retake physical fitness tests if they failed for exceeding body fat limits as service becomes ‘more realistic’

US navy loosens body fat guidelines after losing too many talented sailors
Associated Press
Sunday 6 March 2016 18.31 EST

~snip~

The service loosened its body fat restrictions in January and is allowing those who failed their exams three or more times one more opportunity to be tested this spring under the more lenient guidelines. The navy said it has been losing too many talented sailors.

The changes are the latest by the military looking to improve recruitment and retention as it builds up its cyber-warfare strategy.

A 2014 Pentagon study found that roughly two-thirds of Americans would not qualify for the armed services as a result of health problems, obesity and the failure to complete a high-school education.

The US navy secretary, Ray Mabus, said the service was not lowering standards but rather adjusting to reality: people today, in general, are bigger but not necessarily fat. “It’s far more realistic,” Mabus said of the new body-fat standard. “We were kicking more people out for failing that than for drugs.”

[My Good Babushka]

1. It's kind of bonkers

We start feeding kids horrible, salty, fatty prepackaged lunches laced with preservatives and skew nutritional guidelines as garbage food lobbyists demand, I guess because that's more "realistic" too.
I guess there's health and nutrition, and then there's "American Health and Nutrition".
It seems like "realism" is whatever keeps the military stocked with bodies and the politicians' campaign funds coming in. Everything else, like having standards based on science, is just too nutty to contemplate.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. throw in that "failure to complete a high-school education."

and it makes me wonder where they are recruiting from.