Soldier and Food Service Personnel Attitudes Toward Nutrition Initiatives

Soldiers' and food service personnel's perceptions and attitudes toward the Nutrition Initiatives, as well as their nutrition awareness of knowledge, were assessed via questionnaires and interviews at the Ft. Riley NCO Academy civilian-contractor operation and at Ft. Lewis. Results indicate: 1. Soldiers who want to lose weight use the food information cards. 2. More females than males are interested in weight reduction. 3. Weight conscious soldiers tend to choose nutritious, low calorie food. 4, Weight maintenance and nutrition awareness are related. 5. Troops have more knowledge about practical nutrition than specific food nutrients. 6. When asked to indicate the lower calorie or more nutritious item of two alternative foods most soldiers were able to correctly identify the more nutritious or low calorie item. However, fewer soldiers indicated they would actually choose to eat the lower calorie or more nutritious item in a serving line. 7. Generalization of these results is limited due to sample limitations. Keywords: Food service; Food service personnel; Dining halls; Menu.