fitness (Jones et al., 1993) was found to be an important factor in injury risk in women. Other studies of stress fractures in women suggest that adequacy of energy intake may also be a factor in predicting injury risk (Marcus et al., 1985).

As emphasized by Knapik (1996) at a symposium on physical performance in the military, the maintenance of physical fitness requires regular periods of physical training of sufficient frequency, duration, and intensity. The DoD supports ongoing physical training as a means of passing the PFT/PRT (DoDD 1308.1, 1981). At present, each service interprets this policy independently (see Table 3-1). Only the Army and Marine Corps have policies that includes fitness training as part of duty time; the other services leave authorization of physical fitness training during duty time to the commanding officer of each facility, and thus implementation is intermittent.

Army Regulation 350-41 (1993) mandates vigorous physical activity three to five times per week during normal duty hours, and the Army has established the U.S. Army Physical Fitness School at Fort Benning, Georgia (formerly at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana), which trains 2,000 to 3,000 master fitness trainers each year to work with troops to develop ongoing fitness programs and perform the fitness testing. The Air Force has mandated that health and wellness centers be established on all Air Force bases (Friedman, 1996), with the mission of providing a center for exercise and diet programs and employing qualified personnel to conduct the programs and fitness tests. As of 1996, 22 such centers had been established, with a final goal of 77. The Navy has a Health and Physical Readiness Program, although no specific fitness training is provided. Within this service at least, performance of individuals on the Navy PRT has been traced directly to the perceived attitude of the commander (Bourne et al., 1994).

Few systematically collected data are available regarding the numbers of military facilities or commands that provide duty time for physical activity or conduct organized physical activity programs; however, a number of active-duty women who were interviewed acknowledged that the amount of time allowed for physical activity during the duty day varied considerably from one worksite to another and that many, especially those working in health care, were given no time for regular physical activity (Friedman, 1996; Hernandez, 1996; King, 1996). Two self-report surveys of military personnel (Bray et al., 1995; Hourani, 1996) have found that approximately 60 percent of active-duty women report exercising vigorously for 20 or more minutes, 3 or more days per week. Anecdotal reports suggest that many service personnel increase their activity level within a month of their fitness evaluations to ensure retention and then decrease their activity for the subsequent months, which results in a varied fitness (and potentially body weight, health, and readiness) level across the year. No data were available regarding the methods that active-duty women employ to maintain fitness.

Front Matter (R1-R16)

Executive Summary (1-24)

1 Introduction (25-32)

2 Body Composition (33-60)

3 Physical Fitness Policies and Programs (61-86)

4 Weight Management (87-108)

5 Nutritional Concerns of Military Women (109-126)

6 Pregnancy and Lactation and Postpartum Return-To-Duty Fitness (127-156)

7 Conclusions and Recommendations (157-170)

Appendixes (171-172)

A Workshop Summary, Agenda, Participants, and Abstracts (173-252)

B Practices and Policies Tables (253-262)

C Military Occupational Specialty Classification Tables (263-280)

D Search Strategy for Literature Review (281-284)

E Civilian Inquiry Letter and Table of Responses (285-290)

F Abbreviations (291-294)

G Bibliography (295-334)

H Biographical Sketches (335-338)

Index (339-352)