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In general, are Chinese military personnel carrying excess weight or not? What formula was used to decide the standard weight?
With rising living standards, overweight troops are more frequently seen in military offices where people are relatively older, do less activity and often work overtime, especially those who deal with computers.
Against such a backdrop, the outline urges all relevant departments to fully and accurately understand the goal of the new stipulations, to aim at operating in actual combat conditions, follow the right procedures, provide specific guidance to different training programs and make innovations to establish a military sports training mechanism suited to the PLA and able to ensure victory in a modern war.
Luo Yuan thought it necessary to mandate weight standards according to the features of modern warfare, as it was an international practice. Western countries also set quantitative indexes to restrict personnel weight. “We cannot lose to our future rivals at the starting line. It is a necessary move,” said Luo.
The criteria for standard weight will not be limited to a single number. It should be a reasonable range that factors in individual differences in stature and age.
Luo Yuan said the criteria would also take into consideration the occupation of each person: “Those who work in offices will follow standards different from that for those who take up scientific research or those on frontline operations.”
For instance, said Li Daguang, standards for field troops should differ from military research institutes as the latter need not undertake military operations. The standards for those engaged in field operations will be stricter. Those for grass-roots personnel will differ from clerical cadres.
