Manage Abstracts

Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) soldiers have elevated energy needs given their physical activity, especially when training in the Arctic. Often during trainings/deployments, combat rations are given to soldiers when fresh-feeding is not possible. These pre-packaged meals provide a daily total of ~4800kcal. Light Meal Combat rations (LMCs) are snacks occasionally offered by CAF in addition to main meal rations and provide an additional 1000kcal/d. They include multiple snacks: beef jerky, trail mix, fruit bars, sport drink, coffee, etc. Additionally, a common practice for soldiers in training/deployment is to bring snacks from home with them.

To assess consumption of snacks by CAF soldiers training in the Arctic.

CAF soldiers who trained in the Arctic (2015-2018) were invited to participate in an online bilingual survey questionnaire sent via SurveyMonkey. It included questions related to intake of snacks (LMCs and/or brought from home), and feedback on 13 acceptability factors using a 7-level Likert scale (1-Very unacceptable to 7-Very acceptable), and comment boxes. Results are presented as mean±standard deviation.

Forty-eight soldiers participated; 29 (60%) reported consuming LMCs and 34 (71%) brought food from home (e.g., granola/energy/protein bars, candy, trail mix, coffee, instant soup/broth). In total, 43 (90%) consumed snacks. The three highest scores of LMC acceptability were weight (5.8±1.2), ease of preparation (5.3±1.5), and preparation time (5.3±1.5). LMCs were eaten sporadically throughout the day, reflecting their purpose as snacks between meals (26% eaten between 12-3:59am; 23% between 1-3:59pm; 30% between 7-9:59pm). Fifteen participants provided comments. Many talked specifically about the jerky and fruit bar being good snack options, but were always frozen making them difficult to consume, even more so on-the-move. Others wanted a greater variety of snacks. When asked why they brought home food, some indicated it was for added energy.

The majority of soldiers consumed snacks (LMCs and snacks from home) throughout the day, likely providing extra energy to help reach their elevated nutritional needs in the Arctic.

These preliminary findings emphasize the importance of providing soldiers with energy-dense snacks in addition to meals. Snack options and suitability could be optimized to be easily consumed in the Arctic.

Canadian Armed Forces