AS AMERICAN troops prepare for war in Iraq a report is about to reveal that more than half of them are overweight.

A panel of nine medical experts commissioned by the Pentagon is expected to say that 53.9 per cent of US military personnel over the age of 20 would be classified as too fat to fight under federal obesity standards.

A fifth of those aged under 20 would also fail the fat test, The Times has learnt. Iraq may not have such sophisticated weapons, but its soldiers at least fit their uniforms better.

Admitting such flabbiness would be embarrassing and costly for the Pentagon, which would have to take remedial measures and discharge the incurably fat.

A Pentagon document seen by The Times says: “If at some future time (the federal guidelines are adopted), the impact will be to shift a sizeable group of personnel from a category of meeting weight standards to a category of being overweight.

“Such a change would have negative implications for perceptions of readiness of the forces.”

The panellists are, however, expected to provide a loophole, recommending that the Armed Forces ignore the federal standards and continue to use their own, more flexible, guidelines.

Federal guidelines classify an individual as overweight if they have a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25, regardless of age or gender. A BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared. Someone 5ft 11in and weighing 180lb (1.8m and 81.6kg), for example, has a BMI of just over 25.

Under the military standards it is possible to have a BMI of more than 27 and still be considered in good enough shape to sweat out a battle in the Iraqi desert. As a result, official military health statistics show that only about a fifth of military personnel – regardless of age – are overweight.

“The difficulty in where to draw the line probably suggests that we ought to use a more complex evaluation system, incorporating age, gender, fitness and, possibly, occupation,” Arthur Frank, a medical director at George Washington University and one of the panellists, said.

“The military, of course, has standards for appearances: you don’t want a bunch of fat guys marching in your parade. But how critical is it? It is of significance, but in critical terms, that significance is marginal.”

The military is worried about attracting and keeping recruits from an increasingly overweight population: according to the US Surgeon- General, more than 60 per cent of Americans are overweight or obese.

A successful method used to recruit teenagers is to allow fast-food chains such as McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken to operate restaurants on bases. Mess food is no longer obligatory.

Barbara Hansen, a panellist and a director of the Obesity and Diabetes Research Centre at Maryland University, said: “There’s no doubt that some functions and roles may be incompatible with excess fatness. But those are probably less than half of the current military force.”

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