Assessing Readiness in Military Women: The Relationship of Body, Composition, Nutrition, and Health (1998)

Based on extensive discussions among members of the Committee on Body Composition, Nutrition, and Health of Military (BCNH committee) about the statement of task and on the workshop held in Irvine, California, in September 1996, the committee designated four areas into which to divide the task and divided itself into four working groups. These areas/working groups were (1) body composition and fitness; (2) women's nutrition and physical activity; (3) reproductive function, pregnancy, and lactation; and (4) survey methodologies for nutrition and eating disorders.

Lists of search terms were drafted by the staff based on the lists in Recommendations for Research on the Health of Military Women (IOM, 1995), which contained an extensive bibliography and the search strategies used to obtain it. These lists were augmented by the committee working groups.

The National Academy of Sciences library staff, with the input of committee staff, performed searches of the following on-line bibliographic databases for the years 1991 to 1996 inclusive, using the correct terminologies for the databases in question and supplying delimiters: Medline, Psychinfo, Sport Database, National Technical Information Service (NTIS), and Defense Research On-line System (DROLS)/Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Work Unit and Technical Report databases. Relevant material published prior to 1991 was obtained by drawing upon the 1995 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report mentioned above, the Committee on Military Nutrition Research report on Body Composition and Physical Performance (IOM, 1994), the IOM report on Nutrition during Pregnancy and Lactation (1990), as well as the expertise of the BCNH committee.

These searches were supplemented with a number of additional small searches of Medline, the General Accounting Office (GAO) database, the Bureau of Labor Statistics on-line site, Federal Research in Progress, and the National Institutes of Health Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects (CRISP) System.

Author and title citations were obtained initially and screened by staff. Because of considerable overlap among three of the topic categories, many citations appeared in more than one search. The initial screening considered only the apparent relevance of the topic to the report. Obvious animal studies were eliminated, as were studies of pediatric and geriatric nutrition, and studies on breast cancer. Abstracts were obtained for titles that were deemed worthy of consideration and were sent to BCNH committee members in the appropriate working groups. Committee members designated abstracts for which they wanted full articles. This judgment was based largely if not solely on topic.

Although the BCNH committee initially considered the application of a set of criteria to inclusion of materials for review, it was determined that because of the limited number of military studies of relevance to the topics, all relevant military materials would be included for consideration and their limitations discussed, if necessary. Civilian literature was included as background and supporting material; wherever possible, critical reviews of the civilian literature were drawn upon to provide this background.

Additional reference citations were provided by the speakers at the September 1996 workshop; representatives of the Army, Navy, and Air Force (Offices of the Deputy Chiefs of Staff for Personnel and for Manpower and Reserves, Armstrong Laboratory at Brooks AFB, Defense Manpower Data Center, Naval Health Research Center, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, U.S. Army Physical Fitness School, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, U.S. Army Research Laboratory,); the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS); presenters at the 1996 Defense Women's

Health Research Program (DWHRP)-sponsored symposium on the health of military women; presenters at the 1996 Women's Research and Education Institute-sponsored workshop on women in uniform; individuals contacted for information on their fire or law enforcement service; Women in the Fire Services; the National Fire Protection Association; the American College of Sports Medicine; as well as the Canadian Forces.

The following types of material were included in the report: military policies, directives, instructions, and educational materials; military technical reports of completed research; a small number of interim reports describing proposed or on-going research; DWHRP abstracts of proposed research; reports of original research published in peer-reviewed journals; comprehensive reviews of civilian research; meeting abstracts; IOM reports; GAO reports; civilian fire and law enforcement policy documents; symposia proceedings; and demographic and health status data from the Defense Manpower Data Center (not all requested information was available).

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 1990. Nutrition during Pregnancy: Part I, Weight Gain; Part II, Nutrient Supplements. Subcommittee on Nutritional Status and Weight Gain during Pregnancy, Subcommittee on Dietary Intake and Nutrient Supplements during Pregnancy, Committee on Nutritional Status during Pregnancy and Lactation, Food and Nutrition Board. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 1992. Body Composition and Physical Performance, Applications for the Military Services, B.M. Marriott and J. Grumstrup-Scott, eds. Committee on Military Nutrition Research, Food and Nutrition Board. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 1995. Recommendations for Research on the Health of Military Women. Committee on Defense Women's Health Research, Food and Nutrition Board. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.