In the conventional makeup of most military establishments in the world there are several factors that have an impact on the health of military persons. The degree of contact with diseases and other health-related risks including exposure to injuries has an impact on the overall performance of military duties. The health of military personnel is mostly jeopardized by lifestyle mannerisms tied to poor nutrition, overweight problems caused by inadequate physical exercise, consumption of alcohol and tobacco, and illicit drug abuse. Heart disease accounts for about a quarter of all deaths in the United States and is effected by two majority factors: unbalanced dieting, inadequate exercising and overweight problems. The emphasis on the occurrence of deaths caused by use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco heightens especially in the United State where roughly one in every four deaths is as a result of one of these drugs. The issue of excessive weight evokes concern within the military administration due to allegations that it induces sleepiness during the day even devoid of sleep apnea. Numerous health merits are promoted by proper health behaviors such weight observance, avoidance of drug use, and regularized physical training. Retaining suitable body weight and proper physical fitness through a routine of nutritional diets and physical training improves overall military effectiveness and readiness for the battlefield.
Consequences of unhealthy lifestyles
It is noted that the last decade registered an increase in the number of overweight military servicemen in the US and this has consequences regarding the effectiveness of service in the military. The exact statistic highlights that about a month of lost workdays is realized per annum due to unfit personnel on active duty (Bray, Hourani, Williams, Lane, & Marsden, 2016). The effect of excessive alcohol consumption amongst military personnel has the direct effect impairing judgment and affects familial situations. It also causes an increase in the level of risk inflicting injury, accidents, assault, aggression, violence, perversion, and chronic diseases. Tobacco and illicit drug use inflict suppression on mental functionality, respiratory deterioration, and cause vital organ problems. Illness and physical injury are termed offsetting to provisions in military leadership as they affect the preparedness and work output of the entire military squadron (Hill et al., 2011). The overarching problem facing military personnel in the United States associates to excessive use of military healthcare services and provisions by inactive recipients and to an increase in the use of programs such as Tricare at the expense of well-funded military healthcare.
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Some benefits of healthy living
However, counterplans have been implemented to handle cases of overweight and unfit military personnel in the US through affordances provided through diets, policies, programs and nutritive structures. Due to the negative effects of alcohol use and illicit drug use, the US department of defense (DOD) lays down an all-inclusive structure of policies that work towards monitoring, regulation and elimination of drug abuse and alcohol use for military servicemen. The foundational purpose of these policies and initiatives, being specific to handling drugs and alcohol, are captured in a vast healthcare provision framework that aims to better the overall performance and status of health for all military personnel. It is highlighted that good health among the various arms of military force is important in promoting personalized health through physical exercising, good nutritional decisions, and reduction techniques for stressors. The current drug use policy in the military is strictly zero-tolerant and shifted from earlier doctrines of rehabilitation of abusers to recruitment screening and preventive education for military trainees. The penalty for resisting the drug policy is permanent dismissal from the force (Blair, 1993).
Military Healthcare Programs
The Department of Defense provides healthcare services on a direct basis to the entire military force through a system of three self-directed bodies led by a surgeons general (Congressional Budget Office, 1993). These three systems comprise of the air force, the navy, and the army whereby each of them manages its own stream of clinics and health facilities in a specialized way. The US army is centrally managed by a health services command system which directly instructs all facilities in the army. The navy is headed by a centrally commandeered naval medical command which controls a particular region while the air force is directly managed by its commanders. On top of providing direct care to the active members of the military, these healthcare provision bodies also extend the medical objective to non-active members as a beneficiary package.
The Tricare program is one of the incentives dedicated to providing supplementary care to non-members of the military regiment. More than 70% of the beneficiaries enlisted under this incentive are non-active members with just over 25% representing the military servicemen. All entrants benefiting from this healthcare platform are allowed to access all military-level healthcare when it is needed although first priority is always to serve the active military officers. Next in line are members of Special Forces in active duty and then reserve officers’ training corps and then retirees who previously served the army. Complementary to the Tricare initiative is the Army operational Medicine Research Program mandated with development of strategies in physiology for the protection and sustenance of deployed military regiments. Research conducted by this body is crucial in the foundation of proper decision making processes and a better strategy for achievement of military missions.
The most significant prospect of the AOMRP is resistance to diseases by enhancing the immune system of soldiers in the field which might be compromised by operational stressors alongside other risks prevalent in the battlefield (Friedl, 1999). Such stressors are known to reduce the resistance of the body to avert pathogens and they also heighten exposure to biological pathogens and hence causing an overall reduction in vaccination effectiveness. Immunological deficiencies and damages are only properly prevented by emphasizing on proper nutritive habits and through supplication of main diets with nutritional regimens that supplant anatomical deficiencies. The interaction between infections and nutritional regimens demonstrates the large variety of diseases that can erupt from physiological processes such as fast metabolism, proteinogenic losses, vitamin loss, and muscle mass wastage (Friedl, 1999).
Specified Nutrition Regimens
Researchers have established that certain specific nutritive diets substantially improve the overall response of host immunity for patients suffering from trauma or malnourishment. However, the question about whether nutritional supplements such as arginine and glutamine have an enhancing effect on the immunity functionality of a healthy person. This is primarily due to the absence of adequate study models in which an infection can be assessed, less importance attached on the effect of stressing aspects, or lack of an adequate research foundation for the fortification of a definitively precise conclusion. Studies conducted to assess the effectiveness of glutamine revealed no differences to the path of action of glycine in the immune functions.
Other studies building on the glutamine case reveal that this substance forms a vital link between exhaustive physical training and immunity functions. This conclusion is in consideration of the correlative requirement by the skeletal muscle of the body and the cells responsible for maintaining immunity. Further, the effect of carbohydrate-supplicated beverages as a means of quenching dehydration among servicemen and for fostering a balance of energy is important. Additionally, the inclusion of whole foods in boosting immunity implies that daily supplementation of diet with foods such as kales, tomato sauce, and sweet potatoes enhances response to lymphocytic propagations among healthy military servicemen. A large number of military officers utilize nutritive supplements as a way of improving overall body health and physical performance. It has been reported that the use of dietary supplements is widespread among the elite military forces in the United States.
A conventional generalization among such soldiers stipulates that based on the marketability of these supplements it is thus fathomable that the supplements function as expected. However, the chemical makeup of dietary supplements may present potential risks to the consumer by impairing physical preparedness. This problem can also be replaced by hyper responsiveness in the immune system which might also cause impairments in mental and physical activity. Military service is largely based on performance and it is more likely that the servicemen will be prompted to consume nutritive supplements (Tomczak et al., 2016). Therefore, it is considered important for consumers of these products to remain aware of possible misinformation about nutritional facts and directives provided with the products.
Exercising Activities
The fundamental aspect in the conduction of exercises within the military is to reduce the incidences of injury which causes ineffectiveness in active service. Military research pushes for the incorporation of flexibility training as part of the physical exercise procedure for the trainees. The consideration of flexibility in military training is a miniscule aspect considering that one of the most repugnant stressors of physical ability is weight maintenance. At the moment, all three arms of the military are taking body weight with serious premonitions through the incorporation of body fat and weight control programs. The trainees undergo what is termed as vigorous physical training which is any activity observed to consume more than 7kcal per minute with a peak heart rate of between 74% and 88% of the highest rate (Bray, 2009). The prevalence of overweight cases in the army has reduced drastically since strict enforcement of standardized weight as a requirement in 1986 (Stanley & Blair, 1993).
In the US air force, there is an existing warning zone under the weight regulation program which is mandated with ensuring as few cases of overweightness as possible. Through this program, individuals with weight complications manage to correct them with the right tools of support. The overarching restriction prompting overweight cases to be inducted into the fat loss program is castigatory to the individual, and to the military administration, it is an expensive undertaking. The current precondition is that if an individual is in a position to work on an overweight condition personally and on a timely basis then there is no need for immediate induction into the program (Atkinson, Butterfield, Dietz, Fernstrom, Frank, Hansen, & Moore, 2003). A fat loss program is viewed as a medical intervention and thus granted equal consideration as any medical condition.
The current DOD policy specifies that regular physical training should be carried out on a daily basis for all servicemen at camp supervised by unit commanders. This training is important to warrant a high level of preparedness and fitness and should also be made part of the daily routine for the commandeering group. Next in priority is time allowance for specialized physical training for the participants in the weight management program: this is modelled by exercise sessions, body mass measurements, appearance standards, weight counseling, and support forums (Atkinson et al., 2003).
The US army utilizes the Army Weight Control Program which demands close monitoring to maintain proper weight, body composition, and military form for all servicemen. The weight per individual is obtained during the Army Physical Fitness Test conducted semiannually upon which the non-qualifiers are isolated for further body fat assessments. The body fat target for servicemen in the army is around 20% and below for male personnel and 30% and below for their female counterparts. Exceeding the required body-fat level warrants induction into the Army Weight Control program (AWCP) where procedures for healthy dieting and exercising routines are incorporated. A standalone program called the Weigh to Stay is a part-program for all AWCP recruits which focuses on nutritional provisions, supplementary diets, changing eating behaviors, and rigorous exercise. Such classes are handled by specialists ranging from dietitians to psychotherapists (Department of the Army, 2006).
Military healthcare is the backbone for an efficient taskforce in terms of preparedness and physical fitness in the battlefield. There exists a prescribed regimen of nutritive diets and dietary supplements that are proven through research to be effective at promoting personnel health. Further, since the US suffers under the scourge of obesity, programs in all the three arms of the US military have incorporated counterplans in form of weight loss programs through nutritional modifications and a range of exercises. The ability of an army is dependent on the effectiveness of its physical and dietary inputs constituting to a good physical build and alertness at all time.
References
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Bray, R. M., Hour Ani, L. A. L., Williams, J., L Ane, M., & M Arsden, M. (2016). Understanding military workforce productivity: effects of substance abuse, health, and mental health . New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.
Bray, R. M., Pemberton, M. R., Hourani, L. L., Witt, M., Olmsted, K. L., Brown, J. M. & Scheffler, S. (2009). Department of Defense survey of health related behaviors among active duty military personnel (No. RTI/10940-FR). Research Triangle Institute (RTI) NC: Research Triangle Park.
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Tomczak, A., Bertrandt, J., Klos, A., & Klos, K. (2016). Influence of military training and standardized nutrition in military unit on soldiers' nutritional status and physical fitness. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research , 30 (10), 2774-2780.
