FORT JOHNSON, La. — The Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Johnson were the first of several installations selected to participate in a Military Health and Nutrition Screening Study taking place Aug. 21-24 at the Warrior Mission Training Center.
Modeled on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MHANES is designed to assess dietary intake, nutritional status, cardiovascular health, body composition, metabolic biomarkers and other Soldier health indicators to guide evidence-based screening education and intervention strategies to improve force health.
Capt. Arielle Williams, a registered dietitian, is director of nutrition care at Bain Jones Army Community Hospital and helped coordinate between the research team and base leadership.
Williams said a team from the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine and Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center contacted her about the project in March.
“I worked with researchers and the chain of command and received approval from the mission's senior commander,” she said. “Once approved, I coordinated with the various base organizations, made sure they had all the necessary supplies and the right locations, and helped disseminate the information to potential volunteers.”
Williams said he is pleased to be able to support such important research efforts.
“This research has the potential to impact military culture by guiding service members toward improved screening, education and intervention strategies that improve military health,” she said.
Lead researcher and assistant professor Dr. Claire Berryman, along with retired Lt. Col. Asma Bukhari, PhD, project manager and military liaison at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, spent a week at Fort Johnson recruiting participants, setting up testing stations and conducting the study with the first samples taken from Fort Johnson.
Bukari said the national survey does not include active duty military personnel, so the current survey will target that population.
“Through this effort, we aim to collect similar comprehensive data on nutrition and health biomarkers on active duty military personnel,” she said. “This data will enable policymakers to proactively develop tests, identify risk factors, and customize education and intervention strategies to improve the health of their forces.”
Bukhari said it was good that Fort Johnson was the first data collection site because of its geographic proximity to Baton Rouge, where she and her team are based.
Berryman said he hopes to collect 150 samples from Fort Johnson and a total of 600 samples from various Army bases across the country over the two-year study period.
“This is the first time we've done this, and we want to make sure we get all the kinks worked out before we accept 50 people every day,” she said. “So we're looking to accept 30 people a day on this first visit, but when we return in September, we plan to accept an additional 100 participants.”
Berryman said the study consisted of 14 stations that included stool, urine and blood samples, height, weight, body composition, blood pressure, variability in heart rate and resting metabolic heart rate, medication and supplement review, and a comprehensive questionnaire.
“All participants will complete a questionnaire that includes a variety of demographic, nutritional and health questions. Selected participants will be given wearable devices during orientation that will allow them to measure their physical activity and sleep over a five-day period,” she said.
Marketing and financial incentives motivated Fort Johnson soldiers to participate.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lindsay Moniz, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment, said the cash incentive motivated him to participate.
Study participants will be able to earn participation fees outside of work hours, which will be paid in designated pro rata amounts depending on the completion of the first visit, bringing in photos of dietary supplements taken, self-collection of a stool sample, and completion of remote dietary intake via an automated online tool.
“After learning about the study, I was excited to participate and knew my contributions would help the research team discover ways to improve the health of future soldiers,” Moniz said.
Lance Corporal Mark Flowers, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, said he learned about the study from his wife, who works at BJACH.
“I thought this would be a good way to support the Army and make a little money at the same time,” he said. “I hope this helps the Army develop better ways to educate soldiers about health and nutrition while they're in training and while they're deployed to their regular units.”
Flowers said it's important to understand how nutrition affects performance.
“It's so important to understand how everything we ingest affects our bodies and overall health,” he said.
Lance Corporal Isabel Franco, with 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, said she agreed to take part in the study to learn more about her body and biomedical markers.
“I hope this research will help improve the mental and physical health management of Army soldiers,” she said. “From a personal perspective, I believe learning more about holistic approaches and how nutrition impacts our overall health is an important research topic.”
Franco said learning how to cultivate better health through nutrition can improve the quality and longevity of life for those they serve.
Photo date: 27 August 2024 Post date: 27 August 2024 19:18 Story ID: 479586 Location: Fort Johnson, Louisiana, USA Web views: 4 Downloads: 0 Public domain
This work was written by Jean Graves, supported by enthusiastic volunteers from Fort Johnson Soldiers in support of Army-wide health and nutrition research, and has been identified by DVIDS and must comply with the restrictions set forth at https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
