While visiting the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick MD (highly recommend visiting), there was an exhibit on how doctors evaluated volunteers with various ailments (missing an eye, missing a big toe, afflicted with syphillis, etc), and whether they were accepted into the military. One such volunteer was man from Georgia who volunteered for Confederate service - but he was turned away because he was obese, and wouldn't be able to keep up on the march

Which led me to the question - how did and do conscript-based systems deal with obesity among potential conscripts? Particularly in services where non-military national service alternatives are rare or didn't exist.

Unlike, say, missing an eye, obesity is something that can be "fixed" in theory. Were they conscripted anyway, with the thinking that basic training would eventually result in weight loss? Were conscripts ordered to lose weight to be fit for service? Were they simply accepted into the military as a partially disabled class, like anybody else with a chronic health condition that would perclude them from being an effective combat soldier?

And related - would "getting fat" be an effective way to legally dodge the draft, or at least ensure that your service would be spent in a non-combat role?

Thank you in advance!