Abstract
Research from recent years indicates a problem of excessive body weight among soldiers, who, due to the kind of work carried out, should possess good health and fitness levels. The aim of the study was to determine the association between diet and physical activity and the nutritional status of soldiers of the Polish Air Cavalry Units. One hundred and twenty male soldiers (aged 28 ± 5 years) completed a questionnaire (food frequency questionnaire, long-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire). Body composition was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis, and bone calcification of the forearm was assessed by the DXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) densitometric method. This study confirmed the association between both the diet and physical activity and body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI), and bone mineral density (BMD) expressed as T-score. Significant negative correlations were found between BMI and the frequency of consumption of cereal products, meat products and fish, and nonalcoholic beverages, between FMI and cereal products, and between BMD T-score and meat products and fish, fat, nuts, and grains, sweets and snacks, and nonalcoholic beverages. Physical activity expressed as metabolic equivalent (MET-minutes/week) negatively correlated with FMI (but not BMI) and positively correlated with the BMD T-score. This study confirmed numerous irregularities in eating behavior and in nutritional status indices; therefore, there is a need for nutritional education and further monitoring of both dietary behaviors and nutritional status of soldiers.
Highlights
Both physical activity and dietary patterns are associated with weight gain
We investigated abnormalities in soldiers’ diets and nutritional status, as well as the associations between soldiers’ dietary behaviors and body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI) and bone mineral density (BMD) T-score
(including eight food products groups and 61 items) [20] and long-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) [21], and we focused on three nutritional status indicators: indicators of protein-energy status describing body size (BMI) and obesity (FMI) and indicators of mineral nutritional status (BMD T-score) that seem to be important elements of the evaluation of soldier’s health and suitability for military service
Summary
Both physical activity and dietary patterns are associated with weight gain. Human nutrition is inseparable from physical activity. It is the amount of food consumed and its energy and nutritional value that correspond to the quantity of physical activity a human needs. Physical activity, and generated energy expenditure, provides the basis to determine a nutritional model and the size of energy supply required with daily food rations. It has been irrefutably demonstrated that physical activity is important in the prevention of, primarily, becoming overweight or obese, as well as noninfectious diseases [1]. Being physically active can reduce the risk of mortality, in particular from
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