Eating enough food to meet nutritional needs and maintain good
health and good performance in all aspects of life--both at home
and on the job--is important for all of us throughout our lives.
For military personnel, however, this presents a special
challenge. Although soldiers typically have a number of options
for eating when stationed on a base, in the field during
missions their meals come in the form of operational rations.
Unfortunately, military personnel in training and field
operations often do not eat their rations in the amounts needed
to ensure that they meet their energy and nutrient requirements
and consequently lose weight and potentially risk loss of
effectiveness both in physical and cognitive performance. This
book contains 20 chapters by military and nonmilitary scientists
from such fields as food science, food marketing and
engineering, nutrition, physiology, psychology, and various
medical specialties. Although described within a context of
military tasks, the committee's conclusions and