The army has been forced to relax recruitment rules after finding that two-thirds of teenagers were too fat to join up, a new report has revealed.

Earlier this year, army officials announced it was reducing the body mass index (BMI) target for male recruits from 28 to 32, amid claims by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that larger men could still be physically fit.

But doubt has now been cast on the reason for the decision following today's publication of a National Audit Office (NAO) report revealing that just 33 per cent of all 16-year olds had met the army's old BMI target.

In its wider report on army recruitment and retention, the NAO warned: "Increasing levels of obesity and resultant health amongst young people reduces the number of young people able to join the services."

However, the United Nations' former commander in Bosnia said that the army needed to change its overall approach to the recruitment of personnel for the armed forces.

"It is a good thing to get people fitter," Colonel Bob Stewart told GMTV.

"We have to change the way people for the armed forces are recruited. Very few potential soldiers wear hard shoes, so they have to be trained to wear hard boots," he added.



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