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Seasoned Vet
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Issue Date: October 27, 2003
Getting a handle on waist size
By Laura M. Colarusso
Times staff writer
As you peruse the fitness charts, you may wonder why the abdominal circumference standards don’t take into account age and height.
Good question.
After all, age and height affect the outcome of body-composition tests for Marines, sailors and soldiers. Though the tests vary from service to service, generally, a person’s height dictates how much he is allowed to weigh. Those parameters also are on a sliding scale that gets easier as you get older. The only exception is the Marine Corps, where a person’s age does not affect the body composition score.
But the Air Force isn’t basing its standards on the other services’. It is using data from the Cooper Institute, a research facility that has done numerous studies on the correlation between fitness and well-being.
“We based it on the best science that’s available,” said Maj. Lisa Schmidt, chief of promotion operations for the Air Force surgeon general’s office. “It [is] more of a health-based standard.”
The Air Force will assess the success of the new fitness program and standards annually, Schmidt added.
A spokeswoman for the surgeon general’s office said abdominal circumference is measured between the hips and the rib cage. Because the measurement doesn’t include any bone structures, height doesn’t matter.
A 36-inch waist might look lean on a man who is 6 feet 4 inches tall. But, a man who is 5 feet 7 inches tall with that same waist size will probably look like he needs a few extra minutes on the treadmill. It seems logical, therefore, that whether waist size is healthy depends on how tall a person is.
Not so, say experts in the medical, exercise physiology and kinesiology fields.
Dr. Tim Church, medical director of the Cooper Institute, said a person’s abdominal circumference is a good indicator of overall health.
“Waist girth alone is a powerful measure,” Church said. “It really tells you a lot about a person.”
What the size of your waist says is whether you are at risk for conditions such as diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular disease, regardless of your height.
A healthy waist size — not trouser size — is 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women, according to the Cooper Institute’s data.
Most of the institute’s studies concerning waist size do not take height into account, Church said. In the future, researchers may consider looking at the relationship between height, weight and body fat percentages, he added.
As for the question of age, the Air Force says that research shows it doesn’t matter whether you’re 17 or 55 — you’re still at higher risk for certain diseases if your abdominal circumference is bigger rather than smaller.
That may be true, but the Air Force’s argument doesn’t take into account that people gain weight and size as they age, said Lee Brown, an associate professor of kinesiology at California State University.
“You lose muscle mass and increase fat tissue over time,” Brown said, adding that bone mineral density, especially in women, tends to decrease with age, as well.
Your body’s composition begins to change in your late 20s. The main culprit is a declining metabolism.
“Age absolutely should be taken into account with the standards,” Brown said. “Normal standards are both gender- and age-specific.”
Mike Greenwood, a professor in the department of health, human performance and recreation at Baylor University in Texas, agreed, saying it’s unfair not to consider age when determining whether a person passes a waist measurement test.
“Through the process of aging, you’re going to lose muscle mass,” Greenwood said. “A lot of physiological factors are going to change
------------------------------------------------------------ Out of every 100 men, ten shouldn't even be there, Eighty are just targets, Nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back." - Hericletus, circa 500 BC ----------------------------------------------------------- 
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Trooper
 
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that may wind up being changed.
how do they expect these people to stay slim when they are not enforcing a rigorous PT program in the AF? tell them to diet and hope they do it?
some people just like food.
they should adapt something closer to the navy, unless they intend to step up the PT game like us and the marines.
AIRBORNE GODS WALKING THE EARTH....
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BS6's Dude
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The USAF is highly educated, and FULL of "experts" on EVERYTHING - Just ask them...
“We based it on the best science that’s available,” said Maj. Lisa Schmidt, chief of promotion operations for the Air Force surgeon general’s office. “It [is] more of a health-based standard.”
There is (virtually) no respect for tradition and history in the USAF, so it's not surprising they won't go with tried-and-true methodology, I.E.: PT'ing your ASS off to get into shape.
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