Dr Anna Casey, QinetiQ nutrition expert, has compiled a guide for the MOD to provide information aimed at helping all ranks to eat more healthily. The ‘UK Armed Forces Personal Guide to Nutrition’ is issued to all new troops, and is available on request to all UK Armed Forces personnel.

The guide’s main task is to point out the link between what troops eat and drink on a daily basis and their level of physical and mental performance. The guide gives troops the information they need to optimise their performance, whether they are about to enter basic training, or they are engaged in military operations. It tackles the issue of choosing the right foods to stay healthy and fit, cope more easily with the physical demands of military training and operations, reducing the time it takes to recover from arduous military activities, and reducing the chances of being injured.

Many new recruits, for instance, are used to fast food, convenience snacks, and take away meals with limited nutritional value, and this doesn’t help them during intensive military training with its high energy and nutrient demands.

The guide cautions against eating too much fast food: “Many take away foods are high in saturated fat, salt and sugar. Try to limit the amount of takeaways you eat, and when you do have them, try to choose healthier options such as pizza with a vegetable topping instead of large amounts of meat.”

The guide also advises troops against too many fizzy drinks, and “chips with everything.” Sugar-coated breakfast cereals should be replaced with wholegrain alternatives, and troops are advised against adding extra salt to their food. The guide also advises military newcomers to think twice before drinking alcohol because of its effects in causing dehydration and weight gain, as well as its potential to interfere with co-ordination, reaction speed, and judgement. Dehydration severely impairs physical performance, and troops are shown simple ways to monitor their own hydration level.