Dietary habits and normal body mass index association in Chilean soldiers

Introduction: Eating habits of various age and professional groups has been evaluated. However, there is little information on the dietary habits of soldiers. The aim of this study is to associate eating habits with the normal body mass index (BMI) in Chilean soldiers from Buin Regiment. Material and Methods: 412 soldiers were evaluated. Food survey and anthropometric evaluation was applied to each soldier. It was considered a normal BMI when the subject was between 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2), overweight between 25.0-29.9 kg/m(2) and obesity = 30.0 kg/m(2), according to the WHO recommendations. Results: 41.2% of the soldiers show a normal BMI, 43.1% present overweight and 15.7% exhibit obesity. Only 5% meet the dairy and fruit Chilean recommendations, however almost 40% of them consume <1 daily serving of these foods, 60% consume = 1 portion of legumes a week and 50% consume 2 or more daily servings of sugar drinks. A positive association is being observed of having a BMI<25 (normal BMI) with dairy consumption (>1time/day) (OR: 0.41; IC95%: 0.19-0.88) and legume consumption (>1time/week) (OR: 0.29; IC95%: 0.14-0.60). Conclusions: A low consumption of dairy products, fruits, vegetables and legumes is noted, and a high consumption of sweetened beverages. In addition, intake of dairy products and legumes is related with a normal BMI.