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• Although the body-composition and military-appearance standards codified by the BCMAP are intended to support the growth and maintenance of a fit, healthy force, the policy is implemented in a way that causes unintended consequences that are at odds with its stated purpose.
• The policy draws a direct link between a failure to maintain height and weight standards and appearance with whether an individual possesses the qualities necessary to lead marines, which may drive marines to adopt unhealthy behaviors to conform to the standards.
• Marine Corps body-composition standards have a push-and-pull dynamic between (1) a desire to set strict policy to address concerns about rising obesity trends and to maintain a ready and lethal force and (2) the need to design standards that match changes in fitness requirements and address adverse impacts on specific populations.
• Over time, physical fitness requirements have increased for all marines. Revisions do not appear to sufficiently account for these increased fitness requirements.
• Because the roots of the height and weight tables were drawn from unrepresentative populations, the implementation of the BCMAP may disproportionately affect the health and retention of people of color and women.
• To assess the impacts of the BCMAP on marines and the force, it is important to look beyond marines who have failed to meet standards or who have been separated for failing to meet standards.
• The stigma and hidden nature of eating disorders often means that not everyone who shows symptoms is diagnosed.

The U.S. Marine Corps' Body Composition and Military Appearance Program (BCMAP) standards were not developed from populations that reflect the current makeup of the force and the fitness requirements that they are subject to. Research suggests that the implementation of these standards could drive marines to adopt unhealthy behaviors, primarily those associated with disordered eating, to meet the standards while disproportionately affecting communities of color and women more generally.

Furthermore, these unhealthy behaviors can cause significant short- and long-term mental and physical health problems that could negatively affect individual marines during their service and long after. Although there is some limited research on body-composition standards and eating disorders in the services, there has been little assessment of how the negative effects of policy and the behaviors associated with it affect the mental and physical health of individual marines (particularly those from communities of color and women more generally), career retention, and overall military readiness. Service and U.S. Department of Defense leadership have made talent management and diversity of the force at different levels of leadership an institutional priority; understanding how the BCMAP affects the force will help meet these objectives.

This report will help decisionmakers understand how the BCMAP and its associated policies drive individual behavior, particularly for women in general and communities of color. It will also inform talent-management efforts and discussions about relevant national security implications while providing recommendations and a general framework for policy change.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Evolution of Body Composition Standards in the Marine Corps

• Chapter Three

  Scientific Basis for Body Composition Standards

• Chapter Four

  Impacts of Body-Composition Standards on Individual Health

• Chapter Five

  Impacts of Body-Composition Standards on Long-Term Health

• Chapter Six

  Impact of Body-Composition Standards on the Organization

• Chapter Seven

  Findings and Recommendations