The Air Force is lowering its standards for the acceptable level of body fat among recruits as it tries to draw more members to its ranks.
Master Sgt. Tim Burton prepares trainees for gas mask training at the Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training program in Medina AB, San Antonio, Texas, in February 2009. The Air Force is now loosening the body fat requirements for new recruits.
"We are recruiting today's generation, not my generation who joined more than 30 years ago, where a tattoo may have been taboo but is now a societal norm," she told Fox News Digital."Or where youth now live a more sedentary lifestyle than before – we can take those new recruits and can promote physical fitness and overall healthier living decisions into their everyday routines as Airmen.
"Among the young adults who meet weight requirements, only 3 in 4 report physical activity levels that prepare them for challenges in basic training," it said. The CDC estimates that 19% of active-duty service members had obesity in 2020, up from 16% in 2015. In a statement posted on its website, retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen Mark Herling said,"The military has experienced increasing difficulty in recruiting soldiers as a result of physical inactivity, obesity, and malnutrition among our nation’s youth."
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