title: Energy expenditure, nutritional status, body composition and physical fitness of Royal Marines during a 6-month operational deployment in Afghanistan.
abstract: Understanding the nutritional demands on serving military personnel is critical to inform training schedules and dietary provision. Troops deployed to Afghanistan face austere living and working environments. Observations from the military and those reported in the British and US media indicated possible physical degradation of personnel deployed to Afghanistan. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the changes in body composition and nutritional status of military personnel deployed to Afghanistan and how these were related to physical fitness. In a cohort of British Royal Marines (n 249) deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months, body size and body composition were estimated from body mass, height, girth and skinfold measurements. Energy intake (EI) was estimated from food diaries and energy expenditure measured using the doubly labelled water method in a representative subgroup. Strength and aerobic fitness were assessed. The mean body mass of volunteers decreased over the first half of the deployment ( - 4·6 (sd 3·7) %), predominately reflecting fat loss. Body mass partially recovered (mean +2·2 (sd 2·9) %) between the mid- and post-deployment periods (P< 0·05). Daily EI (mean 10 590 (sd 3339) kJ) was significantly lower than the estimated daily energy expenditure (mean 15 167 (sd 1883) kJ) measured in a subgroup of volunteers. However, despite the body mass loss, aerobic fitness and strength were well maintained. Nutritional provision for British military personnel in Afghanistan appeared sufficient to maintain physical capability and micronutrient status, but providing appropriate nutrition in harsh operational environments must remain a priority.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine,Alverstoke,HampshirePO12 2DL,UK.
authors.forename: Joanne L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fallowfield
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine,Alverstoke,HampshirePO12 2DL,UK.
authors.forename: Simon K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Delves
authors.affiliation: Royal Centre for Defence Medicine,Birmingham,UK.
authors.forename: Neil E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine,Alverstoke,HampshirePO12 2DL,UK.
authors.forename: Rosalyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cobley
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine,Alverstoke,HampshirePO12 2DL,UK.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Metabolism, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey,Guildford,Surrey,UK.
authors.forename: Susan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lanham-New
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London,London,UK.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London,London,UK.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Brett
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London,London,UK.
authors.forename: Kevin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine,Natick,MA01760,USA.
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Montain
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine,Alverstoke,HampshirePO12 2DL,UK.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.affiliation: Royal Centre for Defence Medicine,Birmingham,UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stacey
authors.affiliation: Royal Centre for Defence Medicine,Birmingham,UK.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ardley
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine,Alverstoke,HampshirePO12 2DL,UK.
authors.forename: Anneliese
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.affiliation: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital,Birmingham,UK.
authors.forename: Conor
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bentley
authors.affiliation: Royal Centre for Defence Medicine,Birmingham,UK.
authors.forename: Duncan R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine,Alverstoke,HampshirePO12 2DL,UK.
authors.forename: Adrian J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Allsopp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000346:Afghanistan; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000097:blood; D008889:Military Personnel; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D018977:Micronutrients