Objective: The objectives of this study were to use the healthy eating index (HEI) as a tool to characterize diet quality in Soldiers (n=135) during basic combat training (BCT), and to assess the effects of BCT on diet quality by comparing HEI scores before and after the training period.
Methods: HEI scores were calculated from a 110-item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Soldiers were then divided into tertiles (high, medium, and low) of diet quality based upon HEI scores at the start of BCT.
Results: No relationships between pre-BCT total HEI score and age, sex, racial background, or physical activity were observed. The odds of being a smoker were 4.75 times higher for those in the low HEI tertile and 3.03 times higher for those in the medium HEI tertile when compared to those in the high HEI tertile (95% CI, 1.67, 13.48 and 1.04, 8.82 respectively). Diet quality improved in the medium and low HEI tertiles over the course of BCT, as total HEI scores increased by 22% and 46% respectively (P<.05) with time in these groups. Although different at the start of BCT, HEI scores were similar between the medium and high HEI tertiles at the end of BCT.
Conclusion: Study findings suggest that the BCT dining environment elicits positive changes in diet quality for Soldiers who enter military training with lower diet quality, and the HEI appears to be a useful tool to identify military personnel with lower diet quality at the start of training. This may provide the opportunity to target interventions such as diet counseling and education in an effort to improve Soldier health and performance.