Assessing Nutrition Knowledge, Diet Quality, and Physical Activity in Student Veterans

Military veterans are at greater risk for chronic medical conditions, many of which are associated with greater body mass index (BMI). Detrimental changes to diet and physical activity levels after separation from military service may contribute to this disparity which may be mitigated by nutrition education during service. We conducted a survey in student veterans attending two southeastern US universities to determine current nutrition knowledge and hypothesized that nutrition education during service would be associated with better current diet quality (DQ), physical activity (PA), and BMI. Food group knowledge, and nutrient knowledge, DQ as measured by Healthy Eating Index, and PA reported in Metabolic Equivalent PA minutes per week (METmin) were assessed using previously validated questionnaires. Height and weight were self-reported to calculate BMI. Differences in these variables between nutrition education groups were assessed using Mann-Whitney U tests. Change in DQ, PA, and BMI were assessed with Wilcoxin Signed Rank tests. Sixty-three out of 82 responses were valid. Respondents were 60.3% male, 81.0% white, 42.9% and 17.5% served in the Army and Air Force, respectively, and 30.2% received nutrition education while in the military. Veterans receiving nutrition education while serving did not have higher food group knowledge, nutrition knowledge, current DQ, METmin or BMI than their counterparts. As a whole, respondents reported decreased METmin (p<0.001), increased BMI (p=0.01), and no change in DQ. Effective lifestyle interventions provided after military service are needed to improve DQ and PA in veterans to prevent chronic disease and improve quality of life.