Food-Away-From-Home Options in Local Military Nutrition Environments

Introduction

Americans have increased their intake of food away from home, which is lower in quality and higher in calories than food prepared at home. The increase of operations that serve food also impacts the military nutrition environment—including all foods, beverages, and dietary supplements available to the military community—and its role in nutritional fitness.

Methods

As part of a pilot study, 5 military installations used the online Military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool to evaluate their local food landscape. Each site then developed an intervention to address a specific venue (e.g., dining facility, express) and a key category (food policy, food availability, or behavioral design) through a targeted intervention.

Results

Site teams conducted assessments on a total of 103 venues across 9 venue types. Scores varied widely among and within installations. The overall average Military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool score was 52%, with individual installation scores ranging from 39% to 69%. The most commonly targeted facility for intervention was the dining facility. In-person feedback sessions revealed that leadership awareness and support are key facilitators to improving the local food environment. Most users agreed or strongly agreed that the Military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool application was easy to navigate.

Conclusions

Similar to trends in the general public, the military community has more ways to purchase food away from home, so improving food-away-from-home quality in military settings can have a major impact. A review of local military food environments showed areas of success and opportunities for improvement. Given the prevalence of food away from home, providing and promoting nutritious options can help optimize Service Member nutritional fitness.