Evidence-Based Strategies to Enhance Weight Management Programs for Adult Military Beneficiaries: A Narrative Review.

Introduction: Overweight and obesity trends are on the rise among both civilian and military beneficiaries. The purpose of this narrative review was to evaluate nutrition, behavioral, lifestyle, pharmacotherapy, and alternative approaches to weight management (WM) among adults with a focus toward identifying gaps and evidence-based strategies that could support or enhance current and future WM programming among military adult beneficiaries.

Materials And Methods: A trained research team identified publications (January 2013-January 2020) for abstract review using key search terms and inclusion criteria.

Go for Green® Nutrition Program: Translating Evidence Into Practice.

Introduction: Go for Green® (G4G) is an evidence-based, multi-component nutrition program for military dining facilities (DFAC) to improve nutritional fitness among Service Members. The program evolved from supporting "fueling" during initial Army training into a robust intervention across all U.S.

Orally Ingested Probiotic, Prebiotic, and Synbiotic Interventions as Countermeasures for Gastrointestinal Tract Infections in Nonelderly Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Meta-analyses have not examined the prophylactic use of orally ingested probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics for preventing gastrointestinal tract infections (GTIs) of various etiologies in adult populations, despite evidence that these gut microbiota-targeted interventions can be effective in treating certain GTIs. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the effects of prophylactic use of orally ingested probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics on GTI incidence, duration, and severity in nonelderly, nonhospitalized adults. CENTRAL, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched through January 2022.

Nutrition Program Fidelity Assessment tool: a framework for optimising implementation in military dining facilities.

Objective: The aim was to develop, refine and assess the usefulness of the Go for Green (G4G) 2.0 Program Fidelity Assessment (PFA) tool. G4G 2.

Orally Ingested Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics as Countermeasures for Respiratory Tract Infections in Nonelderly Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The impact of gut microbiota-targeted interventions on the incidence, duration, and severity of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in nonelderly adults, and factors moderating any such effects, are unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the effects of orally ingested probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics compared with placebo on RTI incidence, duration, and severity in nonelderly adults, and to identify potential sources of heterogeneity. Studies were identified by searching CENTRAL, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to December 2021.

A Food-Based Intervention in a Military Dining Facility Improves Blood Fatty Acid Profile.

Enhancing dietary omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (n-3 HUFA) intake may confer neuroprotection, brain resiliency, improve wound healing and promote cardiovascular health. This study determined the efficacy of substituting a few common foods (chicken meat, chicken sausage, eggs, salad dressings, pasta sauces, cooking oil, mayonnaise, and peanut butter) lower in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFA) and higher in n-3 HUFA in a dining facility on blood fatty acid profile. An eight-week prospective, between-subjects ( = 77), repeated measures, parallel-arm trial was conducted.

Randomized trial of a novel lifestyle intervention compared with the Diabetes Prevention Program for weight loss in adult dependents of military service members.

Background: Lifestyle interventions are the first-line treatment for obesity, but participant weight loss is typically low.

Objectives: We evaluated the efficacy of an alternative lifestyle intervention [Healthy Weight for Living (HWL)] compared with a modified Diabetes Prevention Program (m-DPP). HWL was based on a revised health behavior change model emphasizing hunger management and the development of healthy food preferences.

Dietary Supplement Use in US Army Personnel: A Mixed-Methods, Survey and Focus-Group Study Examining Decision Making and Factors Associated With Use.

Background: Dietary supplement (DS) use by Army personnel is high and is a safety and readiness issue.

Objective: Our aim was to examine factors motivating use of DSs among US Army personnel and preferred safety education strategies.

Design: This mixed-method study used a validated DS questionnaire and subsequent focus groups that were formed based on questionnaire-identified demographic characteristics.

Barriers to Nutrition Interventions in Army Dining Facilities: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction: Interventions that encourage good nutrition-related behaviors in the dining environment can potentially influence the health of large numbers of military personnel. Thus, the Army has studied the effectiveness of implementing nutrition education and dining facility (DFAC) changes that included healthier recipes, revised menus, and population-specific point-of-choice labeling, but successful intervention implementation largely depends on the foodservice employees' understanding, knowledge, and desire to sustain changes. This phenomenological, qualitative study aimed to better understand common barriers to the implementation and sustainment of DFAC-based nutrition interventions at two U.

Caffeine, Energy Beverage Consumption, Fitness, and Sleep in U.S. Army Aviation Personnel.

Caffeine-containing products and dietary supplements are widely used by military populations, but little is known about their use by aviation personnel. This study assessed self-reported sleep, fitness, work-schedules, and caffeine/energy drink use. A standardized survey was conducted in person by study personnel using tablet computers.

The relationship between vitamin D status and depression in a tactical athlete population.

Background: Stressors inherent to the military, such as combat exposure, separation from family, and strenuous training, collectively contribute to compromised psychological resilience and greatly impact military performance.

Methods: This retrospective review of records was conducted to determine whether vitamin D status was associated with diagnoses of depression and if diagnoses differed by geographic location.

Results: Depression (defined using diagnostic codes) was more prevalent in individuals who were diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency (20.

Two days of calorie deprivation impairs high level cognitive processes, mood, and self-reported exertion during aerobic exercise: A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Military personnel and emergency responders perform cognitively-demanding tasks during periods of sustained physical exertion and limited caloric intake. Cognitive function is preserved during short-term caloric restriction, but it is unclear if preservation extends to combined caloric restriction and physical exertion. According to the "reticular-activating hypofrontality" model, vigorous exertion impairs prefrontal cortex activity and associated functions.

Performance Nutrition Dining Facility Intervention Improves Special Operations Soldiers' Diet Quality and Meal Satisfaction.

Objective: To assess the impact of the Special Operations Forces Human Performance Program dining facility (DFAC) intervention on patron diet quality and meal satisfaction.

Design: Nonrandomized, controlled time series study using digital food photography and surveys pre-post intervention (0, 4, 8, and 12 months).

Setting: Two Fort Bragg, NC military installation DFACs.

Personality Traits and Occupational Demands Are Linked to Dietary Supplement Use in Soldiers: A Cross-sectional Study of Sensation Seeking Behaviors.

Introduction: Military personnel use dietary supplements (DS) more frequently and in a higher quantity than the general population. Patterns of DS used and the motivation for use among the military population are different than those of the civilian population. Soldiers are much more likely to use potentially dangerous DS purported to enhance physical performance and/or promote weight loss in spite of limited evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of these products.

Two Days of Calorie Deprivation Induced by Underfeeding and Aerobic Exercise Degrades Mood and Lowers Interstitial Glucose but Does Not Impair Cognitive Function in Young Adults.

Background: In studies assessing the effects of acute undernutrition on cognitive function, volunteers are sedentary and findings are equivocal, even though glucose concentrations fall substantially. However, military personnel and endurance athletes often are underfed when physical demands, and consequently energy expenditure, are substantial.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether 2 d of near-total calorie deprivation combined with aerobic exercise degraded cognitive performance and mood.

Roles of the Military Dietitian in Combat Operations and Humanitarian Assistance-Professional Development and Utilization.

Military dietitians have long been valued members of the health care team, called on for their expertise as early as World War I. However, in the more recent conflicts over the past two decades, their role in health care delivery as a component of medical stability operations has been largely undefined. The purpose of this study was to explore the types of missions supported by U.

Altered metabolic homeostasis is associated with appetite regulation during and following 48-h of severe energy deprivation in adults.

Background: Military personnel frequently endure intermittent periods of severe energy deficit which can compromise health and performance. Physiologic factors contributing to underconsumption, and the subsequent drive to overeat, are not fully characterized. This study aimed to identify associations between appetite, metabolic homeostasis and endocrine responses during and following severe, short-term energy deprivation.