It is a Bikini

THE SURVEY IS DELUSIVE

(TOI New Delhi, September 06)

The media’s penchant for sensationalizing information and making it seem larger than what it actually is, continues to hound institutions.  A sliver of data is padded up to become a full fledged story, making exciting reading for the laity. An ‘Unfit Army’? Survey finds 30% Overweight; is indeed one such story which is very likely to attract the attention of the discerning public and unleash a spate of unwarranted skepticism about its worthiness. While, we do owe a great deal to the print and electronic media in recent times, to investigate acts of institutional and public criminality and mobilize an opinion against wrong; there continues to remain a whole lot of hyperbole in its reporting with the express intent to just catch eyeballs.

In an Army of 1.13 million persons, a sample survey conducted upon 767 ‘healthy personnel’ by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is not considered to be a representative group for the purpose of whatever study they wished to carry out. Of this number, only 130 are officers and the remaining recruits and personnel below officer rank (POBR). From an existing strength of about 10,000 officers (excluding those above 50 years of Age), the sample group comprises a niggardly 0.076 %, which is too miniscule a number to arrive at any worthwhile and revealing statistics, for the purpose of research/study. The numbers included for study from the recruits and PBOR, the aggregate strength of which is exponentially greater than that of officers, will make the sample group even less representative and probably redundant. Therefore, it is my case that the findings regarding the health parameters as stated in the ‘Study Report’ are not a credible reflection upon the state of  the Army’s Fitness.

It is said that “ statistics is like a bikini, which reveals what is interesting but hides what is vital”. Therefore, even if one is to disparage the findings of the above mentioned Study and put it in the ‘trash can’ for entirely different reasons, the need to delve into the prevailing state of the Army’s Fitness cannot be over emphasized. It is an imperative which deserves the due attention of none other than the Army itself, because the cumulative tally of about 300 suicides by Army Personnel in the past three years speaks for itself. And the verdict is ‘Poor’. Fitness implies the ability to withstand the demands and rigors of one’s functional environment and perform efficiently therein. That such a situation obtains, which adversely impacts the fitness of our personnel and impinges upon the health of our personnel, is an apt reminder to the Army Head Quarters to focus upon more important issues than just the controversy involving General VK Singh’s Date of Birth (DOB).

Good health does not presuppose absence of sickness, but instead implies a state of  positive well being encapsulating physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social features of an individual’s personality. The medical touchstone of blood pressure, cholesterol and lipid profile are indicative of the state of health and presence/absence from organic disease and is a definitive measure of physical well being. But, the physiological parameters are best determined and established by the body’s ability to withstand the demands of exercise and physical activity.  Therefore, a ‘healthy person may not be fit’ and a ‘fit person not healthy’.  The, essence of developing and maintaining a healthy and fit profile is an inclusive endeavor of a balanced diet, exercise, moderation in habits and value based living. The Army will be well advised to consider this suggestion and instead not yield ground to the scientists of the Defence Institute of Physiology and Applied Sciences (DIPAS) and ICMR, who for want of doing something better, continue to flog the dead horse of ‘Sample Surveys’ upon Army personnel and espouse delusive details which are not only misleading but also inconclusive.

It is time that the Directorate General of Military Training  in Army HQ reflect upon the ground swell which has emerged in the past and even now, and examine at length the reasons for this poor perception about the Army’s Fitness. The Army should not yield its turf to any other organization and task its own integral resources to analyze, evaluate and establish its functional doctrine, which sustains and promotes Fitness. It is too serious a business to be left only to the scientists/doctors/ generals/trainers, but instead requires a collective application of mind to overcome the adverse reputation, of being perceived as  ‘UNFIT’ .

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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