Wf. Graham et al., Demographic differences in body composition of Navy and Marine corps personnel: Findings from the perception of wellness and readiness assessment, MILIT MED, 165(1), 2000, pp. 60-69
With the recent increase in women's representation in the military, baselin
e physical measurement data are needed to help set appropriate accession an
d retention standards and to design useful prevention and intervention prog
rams in the areas of physical fitness and health. This study incorporated s
everal body composition indices to obtain anthropometric data for a represe
ntative sample of 1,292 active duty Navy and Marine Corps women and men. It
also assessed the extent to which personnel met weight-for-height and body
fat standards. The prevalence of overweight was considerably lower among M
arine Corps women compared with Navy women and was slightly less for Marine
Corps men compared with their Navy counterparts. Between one-fifth and one
-third of military personnel exceeded Navy/Marine Corps weight-for-height s
tandards. Navy women tended to meet weight standards more often than Navy m
en. Fewer Marine Corps women than men were overweight, but more exceeded th
eir weight-for-height standards.