A Survey of Body Fat Content of U.S. Navy Male Personnel

In response to DOD directive 1308.1, the United States Navy has released a new instruction, OPNAVINST 6110.1B, covering health and physical readiness. This instruction changes the standards for weight control from heightweight tables to a 22 body fat BF standard for men, estimated from neck and abdominal circumferences. In order to determine the possible impact of this change, height, weight, age, neck circumference and abdominal circumference measures were collected on a sample of 986 male U.S. Navy personnel 174 recruits, 309 recruit staff, 436 auxillary vessel crew members, and 67 submarine crew members. Percent body fat was determined using the methods described in 6110.1B. Compliance with heightweight standards was assessed using the table in 6110.1B. The mean BF for the survey sample was 16.8 or - 5.3. Adjusting for differences between age distribution of our sample and that of the total Navy male population, it is estimated that 15.8 or - 1.2 of the Navy male population will exceed the 22 BF standard. For the survey sample, 16.5 of the personnel exceeded the 22 standard while 15.4 exceeded the heightweight standards. This suggests changing to the BF standard will not greatly effect the number of personnel on weight control programs.