Describe dietary-supplement and energy-drink usage among Air Force personnel and recommend future education strategies.

Upon completion, participant will be able to describe specific eating behaviors associated with higher energy intakes during a military training exercise.

Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the eating habits of Female Elite Warfighters.

Describe the prevalence of weight cycling, list undesirable behaviors used to meet body composition standards, and define the effect of weight cycling on the body mass index of Soldiers.

Describe a strategy to improve and evaluate meal quality and satisfaction in a cafeteria-style environment.

Participants will be able to identify main reasons why Soldiers are currently using dietary supplements as well as distinguish relationships between demographic factors and types of dietary supplements used among the population.

Participants will be able to describe the association between Soldier's dietary food choices and their physical fitness scores.

Participants will be able to describe the impact of a new dining facility nutrition enhancement program on the nutrient intake and healthy index score of patrons.

This study examined demographic and physical risk factors for stress fractures in a large cohort of basic trainees. New recruits participating in US Army BCT from 1997 through 2007 were identified, and birth year, race/ethnicity, physical characteristics, body mass index, and injuries were obtained from electronic databases. Injury cases were recruits medically diagnosed with inpatient or outpatient stress fractures. There were 475 745 men and 107 906 women. Stress fractures incidences were 19.3 and 79.9 cases/1 000 recruits for men and women, respectively. Factors that increased stress fracture risk for both men and women included older age, lower body weight, lower BMI, and race/ethnicity other than black. Compared to Asians, those of white race/ethnicity were at higher stress fractures risk. In addition, men, but not women, who were taller or heavier were at increased stress fracture risk. Stress fracture risk generally increased with age (17-35 year range) at a rate of 2.2 and 3.9 cases/1 000 recruits per year for men and women, respectively. This was the largest sample of military recruits ever examined for stress fractures and found that stress fracture risk was elevated among recruits who were female, older, had lower body weight, had lower BMI, and/or were not of black race/ethnicity.