- MHANES addresses absence of active-duty Service Members in NHANES by assessing the unique health and nutritional needs of United States Army Soldiers.
- Comprehensive protocol recruited 648 Soldiers and collected dietary recalls, questionnaires, anthropometry, body composition, biomarkers, genetics, gut microbiome, physical performance, and sleep and activity metrics.
- Findings will quantify disease risk and relationships between dietary intake and nutritional status to inform screening, education, interventions, and policy with expansion plans.
Curr Dev Nutr. 2026 Jun 26;10(8):109420. doi: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2026.109420. eCollection 2026 Aug.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The Military Health and Nutrition Examination Study (MHANES) is modeled after the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). NHANES does not enroll active-duty Service Members, who are exposed to unique and adverse occupational challenges compared with civilians. Therefore, NHANES data are not generalizable to Service Members.
OBJECTIVES: The objective of MHANES is to fill this gap by assessing dietary intake, cardiometabolic health, body composition, biomarkers of nutritional status and health, mental well-being, injury prevalence, genetics, gut microbiome composition, and physical performance in a representative sample of Army Soldiers.
METHODS: MHANES recruited Soldiers (n = 648) from Army installations across the United States. Participants attended an in-person visit to complete a 24-h dietary recall and questionnaires regarding demographics, physical and mental health, physical activity and performance, and dietary supplement and medication use. Height, weight, blood pressure, resting heart rate variability, physical activity, sleep, resting metabolic rate, hemoglobin mass, and blood volume were measured. Body composition was assessed using bioelectrical impedance, 3-dimensional body imaging, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and circumference measurements. Blood and urine samples were collected to measure biomarkers of nutritional status, health, and genetics. Stool samples were collected to assess microbial diversity and composition. A second 24-h dietary recall was administered 3 to 10 d after the in-person visit.
CONCLUSIONS: Data collected will be used to determine disease risk and prevalence and to investigate relationships between dietary intake, nutritional status, and markers of health and disease in Army Soldiers. Findings will guide evidence-based screening, education, intervention strategies, and policy decisions to improve Army health. Although the current study is focused exclusively on United States Army Soldiers, a long-term goal is to expand this research to other service branches and include additional sampling cycles similar to NHANES.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT06380322.
PMID:42529388 | PMC:PMC13416888 | DOI:10.1016/j.cdnut.2026.109420
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