The Army is using shock tactics to help troops win the battle of the bulge, it has emerged.
An information poster in one barracks urged soldiers to consider starting the couch to 5k running programme if they ‘can’t see their belt’.
Headlined ‘obesity’ the display, inside the Royal Signals Regiment Army HQ in Blandford Forum, Dorset, also included pictures of a soldier with a beer belly and said: ‘Don’t Gobble til you Wobble.’
It also asked: ‘Want to feel sexy?’ and advised troops to see a physical training instructor if they wanted to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and get in shape.
Recent Ministry of Defence figures, from March this year, reveal that almost a third – 43,016 – of military personnel were classed as at ‘risk’ because they are overweight. The total strength of the armed forces is about 148,000.
Former infantry commander Colonel Richard Kemp told The Sun: ‘The question is how have members of the armed forces been allowed to become so badly overweight? You cannot join the armed forces if you are overweight.
‘This represents a failure of leadership at many levels.’
British Army recruits must pass fitness tests, including a bleep test, before they can sign up and are expected to have a healthy BMI. For men, the BMI must be between 18 and 28, and the waist circumference must be less than 38 inches. For women, the BMI must be between 18 and 28, and the waist circumference must be less than 32 inches.
A photo of the poster at the Blandford Forum barracks provoked criticism when it was posted on an Internet forum used by current and ex-service personnel.
One soldier wrote: ‘This is a pretty dire statement about the current condition of our Army.’
Another military source said: ‘It’s ridiculous they have had to put this up – especially at the Signals barracks, who are a combat support arm.
‘Their troops should be among the fittest in the Army.
‘Although they are in charge of communications and information they have to be battle ready. It’s very worrying.’
Between January last year and March this year 941 soldiers were medically discharged from the Armed Forces with severe weight problems.
Figures from the MOD revealed in a Freedom of Information request found 690 of these were classed as obese, with the heaviest soldier kicked out weighing in at over 26 stones.
Over the same period 236 troops were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
The figures mean that more are being medically discharged for weight problems than are being sacked for taking drugs.
The Armed Forces have run numerous campaigns to help improve troops’ fitness levels and hundreds of personnel have been prescribed diet pills or undergone medical procedures, such as liposuction.
The MoD insist no soldier has been medically discharged for obesity alone.
A spokesman said: ‘Military personnel are at significantly lower risk of being overweight than the general population.
‘Where serving personnel experience issues related to their weight, dietary support is provided.’