“In general, this work suggests many similarities in dietary supplement use and motivators among military personnel across nations,” James McClung of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) told NutraIngredients-USA. “In particular, motivations for use generally differed between military personnel and civilians; military personnel tended to be motivated by physical and cognitive performance, whereas civilian populations tended to be motivated by health and wellness.”
The review gathered researchers from USARIEM, the French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, the Institute of Naval Medicine in the UK and the Nutrition Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Differing demands in the military
The researchers noted the need for further studies to assess the prevalence and factors associated with dietary supplement use among service members, advising against assumptions that civilian dietary supplement trends and patterns can be directly extrapolated to military populations.
“Military personnel differ from civilian populations in that they endure unique occupational demands, may have constrained dining options due to the location of their work and must maintain body weight, body composition and physical performance within required standards,” the researchers wrote, noting commonly used dietary supplements to meet these needs include proteins and amino acids.
They added that demographic composition may also differ from the broad civilian population—skewing younger and more male, in addition to being influenced by rank and deployment status.
The review analyzed recent data from each of the countries and built on the work of the research task group established by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2021 to study dietary supplement use in military personnel across its member nations.
Similarities across nations
McClung explained that this work contributes an international perspective in a field where research has largely focused on military and civilian populations from individual nations.
“The most significant finding is that dietary supplement use appears to be greater in military personnel as compared to civilians in the four nations that collaborated to publish this work,” he said. “Further, frequency, form and motivations for dietary supplement use was generally similar across the nations.”
In the United States, a comprehensive study using a stratified random sample of over 26,000 military personnel from across the services found that over 74% of survey respondents reported using one or more dietary supplement per week. Another study showed that dietary supplement used by U.S. Army soldiers deployed to a combat zone was greater (82%) in deployed soldiers than in soldiers in garrison (74%). The researchers also noted that recent studies have focused on the potential link between adverse events and dietary supplement use in military personnel.
Data from France indicated that men, land forces and enlisted personnel, as well as personnel in combat units and those participating in more than four hours a week of resistance training were more likely to consume dietary supplements—with most supplementation starting during operational missions abroad.
While the British Armed Forces do not endorse dietary supplements given associations with drug test failures, research to date indicates prevalent use of protein, amino acids, creatine, chromium picolinate and stimulants during deployment.
A 2018 research funded by the Ministry of Defense in Slovenia reported that over two-thirds (68%) of the 488 military personnel surveyed reported using dietary supplements. Here, lowest use prevalence was observed in those returning from military operations (62%), and military rank was one of the few variables accounting for significant group differences, with junior enlisted personnel leading dietary supplement use (72%). Most commonly consumed supplements were vitamins and minerals (46%), followed by protein supplements (36%).
“Future studies should assess the relative safety and efficacy of DS frequently used by military personnel to include the impact of potential adverse events associated with DS use, coupled with potential benefits, with a particular focus on occupational demands (i.e., exposure to austere environments, and the necessity of physical and cognitive performance) unique to military personnel,” the review noted.
Source: BMJ Military Health
doi: 10.1136/military-2024-002693
“Dietary supplement use among military personnel: international patterns and motivations for use”
Authors: James McClung et al.