I think the FAA, government, employer or any entity has no business or right to compel an individual to do anything healthwise unless it definitively has been proven that not doing so puts the general public at risk (ie vaccinations)
Having said that I would like to put my Drs. hat on for a moment and make a SUGGESTION to my portly (and select skinny) friends.
Sleep apnea is an insidious vicious unforgiving and deadly disease. It sneaks up on you as you age. The symptoms progress slowly and most attribute these symptoms to age, stress and lack of sleep.
Sleep apneas does its damage over 10-30 years and the changes it causes in the heart brain etc. are (at some point) irreversible. It leads to early dementia, coronary artery disease, heart failure, heart attack, cardiac rhythm disturbances, and death. If you don't die from some of these illnesses they are so debilitating you will wish you did.
The treatment for most is to lose weight (a lot of it) to where you are at ideal body weight. Medical treatment is obnoxious and leads to poor compliance. It involves wearing a face or nasal mask attached to a mini respirator every time you sleep (including naps).
Over the last 20+ years I estimate 30% of my patients have weight related sleep apnea. I refer ALL of them for evaluation. Less than 20% actually go for evaluation AND are compliant with therapy. The other 80% I have, sadly, watched slowly become debilitated and die prematurely.
Never mind BMI, as mentioned many times above, it is a crude and often flawed measurement let me just say: If you are FAT (you know who you are) and or have a BIG neck you should DISCUSS sleep apnea with your doctor. If you are fat or skinny, have a big neck or small neck and you:
Snore
Often Wake up with a vague nagging headache
Wake up with a dry mouth
Are sleepy all the time
Easily fall asleep at places and times where most others do not
If you smoke
THEN YOU SHOULD BE EVALUATED FOR SLEEP APNEA
Do not put it off! Your health and life are in jeopardy!
What is ideal body weight? Best way to determine that is look at your 8th grade class photos. You should look like all those kids in the photo that (now) look malnourished to you.
A crude calculation (no more accurate than BMI) is:
For men 106# for your first 5 feet in height and an added 6# for each additional inch.
for women 100# for your first 5 feet of height plus 5# for each additional inch.
Now I know all of you chubbies just ran the calculation and are laughing your butts off but that is really what your target weight should be.
This is just advice, heed it or ignore it. The choice is yours.
Have a happy Thanksgiving and start your diets when the leftovers are gone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apnea