Military experience strongly influences post-service eating behavior and BMI status in American veterans

Chery Smith; Abby Klosterbuer; Allen S. Levine

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2008.10.003

Military experience strongly influences post-service eating behavior and BMI status in American veterans

Chery Smith, Abby Klosterbuer, Allen S. Levine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

In-depth interviews were conducted with veterans (n = 64) with an average age of 57 years to investigate eating behavior and food insecurity during military service and examine if it affects post-war eating behavior, and if this contributes to the high incidence of obesity found in veterans. About half of the subjects served during the Vietnam War, while smaller numbers served in WWII, the Korean War, Desert Storm, or other conflicts. The mean BMI was 30.5 ± 6.7 kg/m². Only 12.5% of participants were classified as normal weight, while 37.5% were overweight, 46.9% were obese, and 3.1% were classified as excessively obese. Five major themes were identified including, (a) military service impacts soldier's food environment, (b) food insecurity influences eating behavior and food choices, (c) military impacts weight status during and post-service, (d) military service has health consequences, and (e) post-service re-adjustment solutions are needed to ease re-entry into civilian life.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	280-289
Number of pages	10
Journal	Appetite
Volume	52
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2008.10.003
State	Published - Apr 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project could not have been conducted had it not been for the cooperation of veterans and we thank them for sharing their stories and for participating in this project with interest and enthusiasm. We thank the VA Medical staff for their assistance in scheduling and recruitment. This project was funded by the Agricultural Experiment Station and Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program at the University of Minnesota.

Copyright:
Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Body mass index
Eating behavior
Food insecurity
Military service
Obesity
Veterans

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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title = "Military experience strongly influences post-service eating behavior and BMI status in American veterans",

abstract = "In-depth interviews were conducted with veterans (n = 64) with an average age of 57 years to investigate eating behavior and food insecurity during military service and examine if it affects post-war eating behavior, and if this contributes to the high incidence of obesity found in veterans. About half of the subjects served during the Vietnam War, while smaller numbers served in WWII, the Korean War, Desert Storm, or other conflicts. The mean BMI was 30.5 ± 6.7 kg/m2. Only 12.5% of participants were classified as normal weight, while 37.5% were overweight, 46.9% were obese, and 3.1% were classified as excessively obese. Five major themes were identified including, (a) military service impacts soldier's food environment, (b) food insecurity influences eating behavior and food choices, (c) military impacts weight status during and post-service, (d) military service has health consequences, and (e) post-service re-adjustment solutions are needed to ease re-entry into civilian life.",

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note = "Funding Information: This project could not have been conducted had it not been for the cooperation of veterans and we thank them for sharing their stories and for participating in this project with interest and enthusiasm. We thank the VA Medical staff for their assistance in scheduling and recruitment. This project was funded by the Agricultural Experiment Station and Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program at the University of Minnesota. Copyright: Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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Military experience strongly influences post-service eating behavior and BMI status in American veterans

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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