Diet Quality Predicts The Performance Of Rotc Cadets On The Acft Total Score

PURPOSE: The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) is a newly developed combat readiness assessment test that may require the need for nutritional interventions. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to determine if diet quality can predict performance outcomes on the ACFT total score of ROTC cadets. METHODS: ROTC cadets (54 males, 17 females; aged 21.08 ± 3.8 years) reported to the laboratory to complete a comprehensive questionnaire (HEI-2015, total vegetables (TV), greens and beans (GB), total fruit (TF), whole fruit (WF), whole grains (WG), dairy (D), total protein foods (TP), seafood and plant protein (SPP), fatty acid ratio (FA), sodium (S), refined grains (RG), added sugars (AS), and saturated fats (SF). The ability of the HEI-2015 to predict ACFT performance was determined with a linear regression model. Significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: HEI-2015 total score was significantly and positively correlated to ACFT total score, showing (r = .287, p = .015). Subcategories of the HEI-2015 were positively and significantly correlated with ACFT total scores, GB (r = .276, p = .020), TP (r = .249, p = .037), SPP (r = .341, p = .004), and FA (r = .273, p = .004) but not the TV (r = .044, p = .715), TF (r = -.042, p = .725), WF (r = -.019, p = .725), WG (r = -.032, p = .789), D (r = -.111, p = .358), RG (r = -.010, p = .934), S (r = -.107, p = .374), AS (r = .152, p = .204), SF (r = .197, p = .100). HEI-2015 total score significantly explained 8% (p = .015) of the variance on the ACFT total scores with a beta coefficient 2.862. CONCLUSIONS: HEI-2015 total score is a predictor of success on the ACFT total score. HEI-2015 subcategories GB, TP, SPP, and FA are associated with the ACFT total score. This data shows that overall diet quality is an important factor in determining a soldier’s combat readiness. For every 1-point increase in the HEI-2015 total score, it is predicted that ACFT total score will increase by 3 points.