U.S. Army Spc. Darius Coleman, a culinary specialist assigned to the153rd Quartermaster Field Feeding Company, Special Troops Battalion, 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade, stocks the dining hall at Fort Bliss, Texas, June 1, 2023. Culinary specialists ensure there are a variety of foods for soldiers to eat. The DOD held a virtual conference June 14 to discuss the role nutrition and healthy food choices play for service members, their families, and veterans’ health as part of Total Force Fitness and w ()
Napoleon famously said an army travels on its stomach, acknowledging that food is one of the most essential elements to survival.
Today, the conversation focuses on the right, most nutritious food that fuels the health and readiness of service members and their families, the main topic for Department of Defense health leaders at a June 14 conference highlighting nutrition-focused initiatives across the DOD.
Organized by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences’ Consortium for Health and Military Performance, or CHAMP, the conference brought health and wellness leaders together to discuss how nutrition fuels Total Force FitnessHuman Resource Performance webpage by improving:
Quality of life
Readiness
Performance
Physical exercise
Prevention of chronic disease
Increased lifespan through lifestyle and dietary changes (“food as medicine”)
Dr. Lester Martínez-López, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, opened the conference with a call for action, saying: “We need to close the gap, and make sure everybody has access to nutritious food,” whether on a mission or day-to-day duties, at all times of the day and night.
“We want, as a system, to be the standard bearers for prevention” of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal injuries, diabetes, and hypertension, Martínez-López said. “We need to understand the repercussions of how we create an environment whereby providing good nutrition and by providing the opportunity to exercise, we minimize the risk of chronic diseases. And, I'd say that we optimize military readiness.”
Another aspect is nutritious food for the 2.8 million military children in schools through such programs as free and reduced cost nutritious lunches and breakfasts, as well as snacks.
These programs optimize children’s health so they can be better learners and, later, better service members and civilian professionals and leaders, Martínez said.
By having Defense Health Agency and Department of Veterans Affairs experts working on closing the nutrition and performance gap, “we advance the science, and we advance the policy to create the right environment for our service members and their family members to fully benefit from the services we provide,” Martínez-López said.
The conference included presentations on:
Nutritional fitness assessments and interventions as integral to Total Force Fitness
Nutrition for performance and cardiovascular health
DOD Education Activity’s school meals and their role in promoting healthy school environments and ensuring military-connected youth receive proper nutrition for growth and development
Leadership in cultivating a military culture of wellness
Collaborative efforts underway between the VA and DOD to reduce diet-related diseases
Current “food as medicine” and “food as fuel” approaches to mitigate chronic disease and optimize military readiness
Unique approach to delivering nutrition health education within the Armed Forces Wellness CentersDefense Centers for Public Health webpage and the Performance Health & Wellness CenterU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs webpage located inside the VA's Virtual Medical Center, to assess and prevent chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease
American College of Lifestyle Medicine Food as Medicine course for DOD and VA providers
Part of a Larger Healthy Foods Mission
The conference was built on a larger effort across the whole of government to improve access to food and empower healthy choices.
In September 2022, President Biden hosted a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health to bring Americans together to achieve a common goalThe White House webpage to increase healthy eating and physical activity, and reduce hunger and diet-related diseases like hypertension, obesity, and diabetes by 2030.
The White House released a National Nutrition StrategyWhite House webpage with five pillars:
Improve food access and affordability
Integrate nutrition and health
Empower consumers to make and have access to healthy choices
Support physical activity for all
Enhance nutrition and food security research
Food security is also receiving an increased focus from the DOD. In July 2022, the department published the Strengthening Food Security in the Force: Strategy and RoadmapStrengthening Food Security in the Force: Strategy and Roadmap. According to Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr., undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, the strategy and roadmap “represents a whole-of-DOD effort. Its focus is to equip our service members and families with the tools, skills, and resources necessary to ensure they have access to sufficient nutritious food to meet the myriad demands of the military mission, without having to endure undue hardship or make difficult financial and personal decisions that may impact their quality of life.”
Resources
The conference included many resources and websites for all military members and veterans. Foremost:
The Uniformed Services University’s Consortium for Health and Military Performance’s Nutritional Fitness Resources: Bridging Performance and Disease Prevention, a compilation from conference experts across the DHA, Department of Defense Education Activity, and the VA.
Other CHAMP human performance nutrition resources include:
Warfighter Nutrition GuideWarfighter Nutrition Guide provides evidence-based information on nutrition for service members and warfighters, families, and the military community. The 16 chapters include information on hot topics including balancing energy, macronutrients and micronutrients, hydration, and nutrient timing.
Get into Fighting WeightGet into Fighting Weight workbook workbook from CHAMP
Go for GreenGo For Green Nutrition webpage healthy food initiative, which conference speakers highlighted as being used across the military
Build Your PlateBuild Your Plate Nutrition webpage in Three Easy Steps
The conference featured speakers from CHAMP, the DHA, VA, DODEA, Air Force Medical Readiness Agency, Air Force Lifestyle & Performance Medicine Working Group, Armed Forces Wellness Center, Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen, and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. A transcript of the conference may be available from CHAMP.
