Defence Forces Records

Thursday, 19 November 2020

Questions (210)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

210. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Defence the average body mass index of Defence Forces personnel broken down by service, that is, Army, Naval Service and Air Corps in each of the years 2015 to 2019. [37509/20]

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Written answers

Minister for Defence

In the timeframe available for answering PQs it is not possible to compile the information requested by the Deputy. I will revert to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I am now in a position to reply and have provided the information in the table below:

Year	Army	Naval Service	Air Corps
2015	26.03	25.79	26.02
2016	26.23	26.27	26.11
2017	26.17	26.19	26.28
2018	26.22	26.46	25.85
2019	26.15	26.37	26.10

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measurement used in large population studies as an index of weight due to its ease of calculation, and the inexpensive and non-invasive nature of the test. It is calculated using a height/weight measurement with a skin fold calliper test being administered. It should be noted that BMI is only one of the metrics used by the Defence Forces to assess an individual’s fitness with others being medical and physical fitness standards which are assessed on an annual basis.