An examination of body weight standards and the association between weight and health behaviors in the United States Air Force

This study examined the weight standards used by the U.S. Air Force and tested whether Air Force personnel who exceed the maximum allowable weight standard are more likely to engage in health risk behaviors compared with individuals who do not exceed current Air Force weight standards. Participants were 32,144 individuals who completed basic military training from August 1995 to August 1996. Compared with body mass levels known to predict increased health risks, the Air Force maximum allowable weight standards were found to be more stringent for women than for men. Furthermore, exceeding the maximum allowable weight standard of the weight management programs did not consistently indicate that an individual engaged in a less healthy lifestyle than other airmen. Perhaps other risk factors, such as cigarette smoking, may not more closely linked to negative health consequences than body weight.