Policies can play an important role in improving the military nutrition environment by defining specific guidelines or requirements to encourage healthy eating behaviors. Annual assessments of your local food environment also help identify where improvements are needed and which resources might be helpful. While the Services adopted mNEAT as the DoD evaluation tool to better understand the nutrition landscape, policies and implementation guidelines vary among the branches.
U.S. Air Force
Department of the Air Force: AFI 48-103: Health Promotion
2.13. The Health Promotion Working Group shall:
2.13.1. Conduct an annual assessment of the installation nutritional environment using mNEAT, develop an annual healthy food improvement action plan, and brief installation leadership at least annually.
Note: Compliance assessed via Management Internal Control Toolset (MICT).
- Has the Health Promotion Working Group assessed the installation nutritional environment at least annually?
- Has the Health Promotion Working Group developed and implemented an annual healthy food improvement action plan, and briefed installation leadership at least annually?
U.S. Army
Department of the Army: AR 600-63: Army Health Promotion
5-5 Oral health
2(f). Nutrition environment assessment to ensure the availability of healthy food, snack and beverage choices. Access to foods rich in protein, fiber, calcium, magnesium, B vitamins and zinc, and decreased exposure to foods, beverages or snacks that contain refined carbohydrates and polybasic organic acids is essential for maintaining Soldier fitness and oral health.
5-6 Promotion of nutritional fitness
(c) Standards of practice.
(3) CHPCs [Community Health Promotion Council] will utilize approved standardized tools that initiate collaborative efforts to engage stakeholders, assess the eating environment, identify opportunities for improvement, and implement and evaluate targeted interventions on an annual basis. The council will ensure educational programs are offered to meet communities’ assessed nutritional health needs, while promoting necessary lifelong behavioral changes to maintain optimal health and wellness.
(6) Military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool (m-NEAT) will be utilized to measure the accessibility to healthy food options Army installations and prioritize changes to improve healthy eating.
U.S. Navy
Department of the Navy: OPNAVINST 6110.1K, N171A: Physical Readiness Program
4. Discussion
a. Nutrition plays an important role in overall readiness, health and well-being. Structuring the nutrition environment where a greater availability of healthy food options to fuel the requirements of today’s Sailors is the norm. Increasing the availability of higher quality nutritious foods has been shown to be an essential part of a Culture of Fitness.
5. Policy
b. Command Physical Readiness Program
(1) Nutrition environments must be assessed to ensure a higher priority and availability of healthy food choices.
Check your service’s health promotion, nutrition, and/or fitness publications for additional MNE assessment and planning guidelines. Contact your service-specific MNE lead with any questions.