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HomeResourcesHealth PromotionNutritional Fitness

 

 

 

Nutrition

The Air Force Medical Service is committed to championing an environment supportive of healthy eating and developing specific initiatives that promote healthier choices.

Healthy Airmen and Guardians

Nutritional Fitness is defined as having, “as having the nutrients needed to facilitate not only good health and readiness but also resilience against the physical and mental stressors associated with military service. Nutritional fitness contributes to resilience by helping service members maintain a healthy weight, protecting them against diet-related diseases that affect physical and cognitive functions, and reducing their vulnerability to stress and depression.” (RAND Project AIR FORCE Series on Resiliency, 2014)

The Air Force offers several options to connect you with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and/or a Diet Technician, who are food and nutrition experts:

  • Air Force Health Promotion offices at more than 40 installations
  • Outpatient Nutrition Clinics within the military treatment facility
  • Telenutrition services at select installations

Military OneSource also offers an online chat option for Health and Wellness Coaching free of charge. (Note: This site is restricted and requires a common access card; users without a common access card will receive a website error message)

Additional information to help improve your nutritional fitness include:

Healthy Nutrition Environment

Not only is it important that individuals and families strive to meet their nutritional fitness goals, it is also important that we continue to strive for a healthy nutrition environment on military installations.

Defense Commissary Agency: Nutrition Guide Program (video)

Go for Green® in dining facilities: The Department of Defense’s G4G program uses a stoplight system of green, yellow, and red to identify nutritious foods. Foods are color-coded based on their nutrition quality, which can impact an Airman and Guardian's fitness, strength, and health. Green signifies performance-enhancing foods. When selecting from menu offerings, keep in mind the significance of these labels:

Graphic of G4G Color Table

Source: Go for Green®

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Healthy Families

We understand that nutritional fitness benefits the entire family, not just the service member. The resources listed above can be used by both service members and their families. The 5210 program is especially geared toward military children.

5210 Healthy Military Children is a community-wide program to improve children’s health. 5210 promotes healthy behaviors, to put into practice each day:

  • Five or more fruits and vegetables
  • Two or less hours of screen time
  • One or more hour of physical activity
  • Zero sugar-sweetened beverages

National Diabetes Prevention Program

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 86 million adults have prediabetes - that’s one out of three adults! Of those 86 million, nine out of 10 are unaware they have it. Without taking action, many adults with prediabetes could develop type 2 diabetes within five years.

Learn more: National Diabetes Prevention Program Infographic

Take an online test to find out if you are at risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Resources