European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Good nutrition its the Only weigh to go by Janet d Agostino medical writer Arrell Stewart fears that a few extra pounds could give the army an excuse to give him the Boot. Stewart a staff sergeant has More than 17 years in the service. Until recently he also carried about 14 More pounds and 2.5 percent More body fat on his Frame than the army allows. With troop reductions and military budget cuts in sight he believes the excess pounds could be reason enough for the army to keep him from reaching retirement. But the army is also giving him a Chance to learn Why he has been unsuccessful at losing weight and Beth Vogel doing an aerobics exercise at a . Army gym in Lan Stuhl West Germany. A amps Lynda Davidson keeping it off. Stewart 37, recently spent three weeks As an inpatient at the Lan Stuhl army regional medical Center learning How to change his bad health habits. Lan Stuhl s program for overweight service members is called Hieam a Hospital inpatient behaviour education and modification. Its philosophy is that there Are Good service members do their jobs Well but need help meeting weight and fitness standards said 2nd it. Gail Miller a registered dietician and program officer. The program is available for army or air Force service members who have Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes been identified by their units As being overweight. Hieam offers a last Chance for Success for those people who have had nutritional counselling classes before but have failed to lose weight. The Hieam program teaches people How to extinguish poor eating and health habits. Stewart routinely lost weight quickly before weigh ins Only to regain it later. An unexpected weigh in caught him when he was Over the weight limit. As a result he was not allowed to go to an advanced noncommissioned officers school which he needed to attend to get promoted. Most members said the fear of being cast out of the military was the principal reason they volunteered for the program. Quot i want to be an e-5,&Quot said spec. Gloria Cotton who has tried numerous diets. Her goal is to lose 25 pounds in six months. If she does t lose the weight Quot i will probably be chartered forced to leave the army Quot she said. During the carefully structured three week program members Are Given physical examinations and psychological screenings and evaluated for physical fitness and health risks. They Are told Why they have to count Grams of fat instead of calories Why it is better to Cut Down on portion sizes than to skip meals and How to shop for the right foods in the commissary. The Workings of the digestive system and the physiology of Muscles Are explained to help them better understand and control their bodies. They Are up by 5 . To Start the Day with a walk or run before breakfast and in the afternoon they swim exercise with Nautilus equipment or do aerobics. But they also learn that emotion fear and stress will ultimately determine How successful they will be in winning the Battle of the bulge. Stress management workshops and psychological counselling sessions teach them ways to find time for rest and relaxation and better Cope with life s everyday frustrations. Group members learn How to change their attitudes and take responsibility for their weight and their eating habits said it. Col. H. Frank Edwards chief of psychology service at Lan Stuhl Quot we work to help people take better control of their they Are taught How to be More assertive because people who have trouble expressing or standing up for themselves tend to use eating As a Way to gain some Type of control. At the end of the three weeks group members sound like religious converts Able to explain at length the Basic tenets of Good nutrition and exercise. They know How to read food labels As easily As a menu and How to avoid restaurant temptation by ordering children s portions or baked or broiled foods instead of deep Fried delicacies. Cotton who is with the 63rd finance support unit in Pir Masens said she discovered Why it is unhealthy to eat High fat meals of cheeseburgers and French Fries and then starve herself with egg or banana diets. Air Force master sgt. Carol Allen chief of flight management at the 86th tac fighter Wing at Ramstein a Learned How Job stress sabotaged her attempts to lose weight or exercise. Quot in a going to have to try and change my old habits for new pvt. Joseph t. Gaitan 19, had been doubtful the program could change his poor eating and exercise habits. But after the three weeks he was intent on exercising regularly and eating better especially while on 24-hour guard duty for the 165th my co at the Fishbach army depot. Service members Are Given six months from the end of the inpatient program to lose weight. They return to the Hospital monthly so staff members can Monitor their Progress give the encouragement and help falling Back into old Habi the Hieam program after a program at the Ari Bremerhaven called Fli and exercise a which h running for about Twoy percent of the participant lose enough pounds and removed from the army program said of the nutrition care Divis coordinator of the flex ram. Only a handful have been Force leave the army because of their it it army Battles the bulge m any soldiers overweight by . Army standards complain that the army s chief concern is not readiness and physical performance but physical appearance said maj. Jane Imholte chief of the nutrition care division at the army Hospital in bad Cannstatt West Germany. Such charges were voiced recently by Many members of a three week program to change poor health habits carried out at the Lan Stuhl army regional medical Center in West Germany. The participants argued that Job performance is More important than a few extra pounds. They expressed the belief that people with harmful health habits such As smoking and drinking do not face the same fear As the overweight do of being rejected by the army. The army Imholte said does not deny that it has lost some talented soldiers who performed their jobs Well. But Pride in appearance the service argues Fosters Pride in performance. The army weight control program was implemented in 1976, said Imholte who wrote an article about it for a recent Issue of the journal of the . Army medical department. All army service members Are screened according to height and weight tables. If the individual exceeds the limits he is measured with a tape to determine the percentage of body fat. A table based on age and sex determines the maximum amount of body fat allowed. If an individual exceeds the limit for body fat he is enrolled in the army weight control program. At this Point the Soldier s military record is flagged and he cannot be promoted or attend military schools until he Falls within body fat standards. People placed in the program receive group diet counselling. Individual counselling is not possible because of a shortage of health care personnel by specializing said. Soldiers f used to Deti complaints tables and body fat Sta its Personne populations technique i the army be before 1986 did t include Blacks. The circus formula usin body. The to correlate wit method for different p women. For circumference women the Meas Remer weight if determining of their Abdo body fat Rea Many weigh height and w soldiers a entering the Active or rest on height an some sold the program exception a weight cont tuesday m is modelled Hospital in fat loss teen about 70 successfully by fat to be it control Dolan chief and a amps Lynda Davidson Hieam fitness group Heads for lunch after an aerobics session at the Lan Stuhl gym Carol Allen left instructor Michael Brown Gloria Cotton Joseph t. Gaitan Margaret Chilcote Darrell Stewart and Gary Seymour. But is it fair nutrition and weight control Imholte e questioned the reliability of the method Ine body fat. In response to those army has made weight screening fat standards fairer. It has adopted Ards based on the army population and eeds with consideration for its minority rid Imholte. The circumferential to measure body fat was developed by use the ski fold Caliper method used As based on a White male population and women or minority groups such As Prential technique is a mathematical measurements from different parts of the Lula was developed to most closely underwater weight a the most accurate Erminino body fat. Tsofi the body Are measured for men and measurements include height neck and abdominal circumference. For Mula includes weight height and of the wrist forearm neck and buttocks n with Large Abdomens complain that y by measuring the circumference rns often gives them a much higher 9 an do other methods. Consequently ers exceed the screening tables for a Imholte said. Complain that the standards for soldiers my Are not As strict As for soldiers on 6 duty. Standards for recruits Are based weight alone. S complain that their supervisors use brass them. But Imholte said this is the r Man the Rule and is not the fault of the re Gram but of some supervisors. . Trying hard to be a loser i a by Nancy Clark men eat and women weep when it comes to wept control most athlete women declare that life a not fair they come to a moaning groaning and Compi amp about their inability to lose we put they be been on every diet m the pee and nothing seems to work athletic men. In cd Parson seem to eat and be Ean w the of the bulge is there a a. Between the sexes or does yest seem that women struggle more7 Are the men silently struggling As wen7 to better define the Batt Ecru a i surveyed top male and female runners m the United states about their eat a and weight control habits Here s what found a As a group the women were four pounds heavier than their desired weight the men Only one Pound a 26% of the women repented eating Quot less than they As compared with 12% of the men a 25% of the women reported undesired Binge eating As compared with 6% of the men a 13% of the women reported been anorexic As compared w to none of the men. The Survey pointed out Clear As Day that the Battle of the bulge is primarily a women s War let s look at some possible explanations body fat Plain and Simpie voter nature likes women to have a certain amount of fat that s essential for producing healthy babies this fat is stored in the breasts which women generally accept As desirable and the thighs and inner leg which women generally hate with a passion in women about 11-13% of body weight is essential fat. In men. Only 3-5% hence women create physiological turmoil if they strive for that male Quot cute look Quot when Quot lean at any Price Quot becomes the motto the Price commonly is starving binding and food obsessions a a natural weight is desired weight Quot among the male runners 77% rarely or never dieted to keep their weight at a desired level. They were naturally lean with a body in Harmony at its set Point. Weight was simply not an Issue typical comments included Quot i m known As one of the thinnest Guys in the sport but i Don t watch my weight at All it s All genetic everyone in my family is Small and thin Quot and Quot i be always been thin. Even when i Stop running and eat like a pig i Don t Gam weight Quot in comparison 73% of the women yearned to be lighter they seemed to be waging warfare with Mother nature typical comments included Quot i m fatter than most women runners i be always wanted to weigh 7-8 pounds less i Gam weight easily despite running 70-80 Miles per week. Why can t i simply lose eight pounds Quot and Quot although 120 is a weight i can easily maintain i Don t like it so i struggle to be lighter Quot two men reported dieting often they expressed we get Trust at ens s a a to the women one Quot a Civ do a states i Strugge we eyed avg a a Page eat my h i eat whatever a Quot weight Levels out at 113-50 put wat to we of 110 perhaps ?a3 was r s natural weight 3e has Cef my to an unnatural we ghz Ard not a ale be a e differences sets the stage a or to s Batte with be bulge7 body image m a Eca a s Oes Rabie Rcok at All the Nee a Cedis n ads a is lean 5 yes t at vet he nature makes us a Vatu a -. Gluttony Fatse Mother Natu e d he ent a Zes and shapes be Tor not yet Sumes suggest that 31% of Ema e athletes Are discontent w to me cd is and often go to treat extremes to change their pays due Amog these women runners 34% reported problems with food one food obsessed woman lamented i m 5 7 and weigh 1 5 pounds i Don t have the gaunt cd of my Peers i wish 1 could is in t 1c in comparison comments , of men were As an elite has to enhance performance not to be concerned about my we it a Quot a exercise for fitness and a a e that a y we go w11 be a at shoe o be calorie needs an is men eat and women weep me Mae be a commented i eat whatever wan a a Quot Liri 3 i v-a.5.5 ire a i Ai Cia exercising to lose weight a study women each group exercised for up to 50 minutes every Day for s. Months so Effort was made to restrict diet weight pulse rate and skin fad measurement of Cody a at Are p the mean for each g to Quot k it a 8 12% coding 10 my calories 360 per hour pulse rate at rest minute before 75 Aher 64 weight Curos t before 146 after 129 skin fold m m Tersi before 30 after 17 weight loss 12% Ltd is. V d 10% 0% wafting 4 m p it swimming calories per hour 360 calories per hour 660 pulse rate at rest pulse rate at rest before Aher 75 63 Bemore Ahe 76 63 weight pounds before after 152 135 weight ecu Quot before Aher 143 153 skin fold Millimetres before 32 after 19 skin fold a be c e a he �?et5 sgt 28 28 weightless 10% weight loss 0% 8,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15
