Obesity and Health Risk Factors in Czech Artillery Soldiers

Area of Science:

• Military health
• Body composition analysis
• Bone health

Background:

• Soldier operational readiness depends on physical fitness and body composition.
• Czech soldiers lack body fat percentage (%BF) standards, unlike U.S. forces.
• Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a precise tool for body composition assessment, underutilized in European military research.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate Czech Artillery Soldiers' body composition using DXA.
• Compare Czech soldiers' %BF with U.S. Army and civilian norms.
• Assess implications for military health policy.

Main Methods:

• 209 active-duty Czech Artillery Soldiers (189 men, 20 women) participated.
• DXA scans assessed %BF, fat-free mass, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and bone mineral density (BMD).
• Statistical analyses included Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA, and GLM; health classifications used BMI, %BF, VAT, and BMD T-scores.

Main Results:

• Czech and U.S. soldiers showed similar %BF (men: 24.3%; women: 33.8% vs. 33.3%).
• 41.2% of participants had excessive %BF (≥25%).
• Older age correlated with higher VAT and %BF; 20% prevalence of osteopenia in both sexes.

Conclusions:

• Czech soldiers' DXA-assessed body composition aligns with U.S. Army data.
• High rates of overweight and osteopenia necessitate preventive health strategies.
• Further research is needed on osteopenia/osteoporosis prevalence across the Czech Armed Forces.