Making weight,” the informal term for the twice yearly military assessments of body mass index and other markers of physical fitness, can spur stress that leads to disordered eating patterns including severe calorie restrictions, bingeing and purging, and excessively exercising. Service members will not be able to keep up their body processes and could suffer musculoskeletal injuries, cardiac issues or bone density issues that make them unable to perform their jobs to the maximum level,” said Army 1st Lt. Anna Smith, a dietitian at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. “These practices can affect force lethality.
And these types of behaviors go against the nutrition tenets of Total Force Fitness, the concept that proper nutrition fuels service members’ bodies so that they can perform optimally, remain uninjured, or heal from injury more quickly because of what they eat.