After being turned away from the military for not passing the Pentagon’s strict body fat test, some potential troops are beginning to turn to liposuction. What’s in need of surgical correction, though, is the government’s faulty, out-of-date test.
Commonly referred to as the “tape test,” the current system uses a ratio of the circumferences of the neck and waist to determine a person’s body fat percentage. The bigger a soldier’s waist, the higher the percentage and the less likely chance of passing the test.
The test is inaccurate because it doesn’t take into account genetic differences and excessive muscle weight. Those with higher muscle densities may be turned away because the test does not factor in muscle weight.
Before the tape test come minimum weight and height requirements. Failing the weight requirements, soldiers endure the tape test, after which they must train for months to lose the weight. Some resort to liposuction.
Labeled the “most cost-effective tool available” by military officials, the tape test is not thorough enough to know the difference between excessive fat and muscle. Based on these casual errors, the military could lose thousands of troops — something that may turn out to be completely intentional.
Of Course, liposuction wasn’t invented in order to cheat the military system. Going through this process doesn’t improve endurance, which would essentially place unprepared troops in the middle of a battlefield.
Liposuctioned Marines won’t have the same muscular strength as those that built it up without the help of doctors. They are putting both their lives and their health at risk; surgery is not going to help them in anyway apart from others believing they are up to fitness standards — all based on a faulty test.
It’s not common to see surgery as ideal in order to meet certain standards. Whether or not soldiers should get liposuction to speed up the process of “losing” weight is up to them; however, it provides a sad example of what our country is becoming.