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Soldiers need to be fighting fit, so nutrition is key
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Thursday, 01 March, 2012, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Shashi Bala Singh
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The success of military operations largely depends on the physical and mental status of the soldiers. Physical demands of combat combined with mental stress of long working hours affects health and morale of soldiers under extreme environmental conditions even if it is for a short duration.
An individual’s physiological and nutritional status plays a critical role in one’s ability to maximise performance in sustained high stress operations and if proper care is not taken it may compromise mission-effectiveness.
Continuous challenge
Appropriate nutrition before and during operation can reduce adverse effects of combating stress. But optimising the soldiers’ nutritional status is a continuous challenge. Malnourished people might improve their performance with physical training but will not be able to attain high standards of fitness required for soldiers.
Soldiers need to be fighting fit and that is possible only when their nutritional levels are optimal, they have positive health, they are adequately trained and all preventive measures against infectious diseases have been taken for them.
The Napoleonic dictum ‘an Army marches on its stomach’ signifies the role of food and nutrition in success of armed forces. Soldiers are deployed in different climatic conditions such as hot deserts, hot humid jungles, snowbound high altitude areas and underwater submarines etc. Accordingly, their nutritional needs are different from civilian population. Adequate nutritional support is of prime importance for maintaining the highest level of physical fitness under different climatic conditions and operational situations.
Ratio scales
Nutritional requirements of armed force personnel and adequacy of ratio scales have been determined after conducting studies of actual field conditions. In this regard, the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Services (DIPAS) has made significant contribution in the field of military nutrition since 1963, when for the first time, ration scale, for high altitude was introduced.
Subsequently by the year 1981, various ration scales namely peace and field scales, high altitude officers ration scales, submarine rations, different diets for Army hospitals, ration scales for military and sainik school boys, and ration scales for tradesmen and pioneers under the Border Road Organisation were evaluated.
The average energy expenditure of different units of the Indian Army under the normal and specialties trainings has been found to be in the range of 2900-4500 kcal. The energy expenditures of the Indian soldiers at infantry training centres and during commando training there is a requirement of 78 kcal per kilogram per day and this is almost comparable to the US Army rangers training. The purpose of the long physically active training is to impose a physical and psychological stress on these soldiers. The environmental extremes which cover high altitude, and cold and hot deserts conditions also increase the requirement of calorie and specific nutrients.
Appetisers
Decreased food intake due to high altitude anorexia causes negative energy balance leading to loss of body mass in low-landers visiting high altitudes. The digestibility and absorption of different nutrients is not adversely affected at heights up to 4,500 metre. High carbohydrate diets are beneficial under hypoxic environment of high altitude during early days of acclimatisation. The taste thresholds and sensitivity changes at high altitude along with disturbances in appetite regulatory hormones. To improve the food intake, troops are provided special ration containing a variety of products such as nuts and dry fruits. We have also evaluated appetisers developed by the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) at extreme altitude and some of these were found to be effective. Maintenance of adequate nutrition and electrolyte level is extremely important in hot environments.
The planning of ration for combat operations is a challenging task as balance between nutrient requirement for optimum health and palatability needs to be ensured.
Indeed, increasing palatability, maximising energy and nutrient density along with extending shelf life stability for ready-to-eat meals for the armed forces is a challenging task for nutritionists and food technologists.
(Sourced from the DFRL Souvenir of Technical Paper Extracts of International Symposium on Recent Trends in Processing and Safety of Specialty and Operational Foods)
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