Mental health articles

Health Status and Health Behaviors The physical health of military personnel is a vital component of productivity and readiness that affects work performance and absenteeism in the military. Being free from injury and being in good physical condition have long been recognized as critical to readiness and productivity. The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans makes an important distinction between health-related fi tness and performance-related fi tness that has implications for the military. Health-related fi tness emphasizes the levels of exercise
and physical training that are needed to promote and improve cardiovascular and muscular fi tness and reduce the risk of disease or injury. This type of fi tness is encouraged for all Americans. Performance-related fi tness focuses on the levels and amount of physical training needed to achieve a particular goal such as climbing a high peak or completing a distance run within a specifi ed time limit. The military
needs both types of fi tness but gives high emphasis to performance fi tness because it is related to mission accomplishment (Roy et al., 2010 ) and, of course, to productivity.
In this framework, performance fi tness varies across individuals and units
depending on their military jobs and the related task requirements. Performance
requirements will be quite different for soldiers who will be carrying back packs and perhaps other equipment across rough terrain in Afghanistan than it will be for aircraft mechanics.
It should be no surprise that poor physical fi tness as well as overweight and obesity are associated with productivity loss and absenteeism among military personnel. Similarly, physical illness and injury limit the ability of
personnel to perform at peak levels and have been shown to be related to missed work among both active duty and Reserve component personnel . Further, the impact of health on military productivity may be
exacerbated by combat experience largely because of higher risks of illness or injury in adverse environments. Consistent with this logic, Helmer et al. found that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan reported a number of physical health concerns and exposures to poor health conditions and toxins.

Tags: health behaviors, health status