The People's Liberation Army (PLA), the army of the Communist Party of China and not the Chinese state, is losing "The Battle of the Bulge" and has again adjusted weight requirements for new recruits "to allow more portly young men into the military."

The intractable problem of bulging waistlines among combat and non-combat personnel in the PLA's three services was brought to public attention in Feb. 2014 when the official People's Liberation Army Daily reported the average Chinese soldier was now five centimeters wider at the waist compared to 20 years ago. There are some 3.2 million personnel in the PLA.

Like Us on Facebook

These big bellied men are having trouble getting into their tanks that were designed over 30 years ago for slimmer men. They also feel more cramped in the already cramped interior of Chinese tanks. The study that brought out these findings recommended upgrading military equipment to take into account these realities.

Recently, the semi-official Global Times said the PLA now accepts male and female recruits that weigh 30 percent and 20 percent above the "standard weight." These numbers are five percent higher than in 2015.

The problem of overweight and obese teenagers derided as being "Too fat to fight" has remained intractable, a problem brought about by China's former one child policy. This policy gave rise to spoiled - and fat - children ridiculed as "Little Emperors."

In an admission of this inconvenient reality, the PLA softened its physical requirements for recruits at least four times since 2008. That move included lower height requirements and an increase to the maximum male weight "to allow more portly young men into the military," said China Daily.

Two years ago, overweight Chinese soldiers were warned to stay in shape or be denied promotions.

"It is strength but not weight, muscle not fat that is to be compared on the future war field," said Rear Admiral Luo Yuan, social commentator and military theorist at the PLA Academy of Military Science.

TagsPeople's Liberation Army, Communist Party of Chin, overweight, obese soldiers