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REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - Earlier this year, the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine team completed a directed Army Comprehensive Body Composition study to determine if the Army Body Composition Program effectively measures the body fat of Soldiers who did not meet the height and weight standards.
The study found that the Army needed to modernize the ABCP to better uphold the standards established in the regulation. As a driving factor for supporting the holistic health and fitness (H2F) program, the Army have been committed to reducing body fat across the force and has begun the implementation of the new policy by coordinating for the issue of the InBody 770, a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) device, to all Army components.
The Army has procured 145 Inbody 770s to be issued across the Army by January 2024. With different body composition measuring devices, such as the Bod Pod and Dual X-ray Absorptiometry available on active-duty installations, the active-duty component is schedule to receive 15 Inbody 770 devices. The Army National Guard is scheduled to receive 60 devices for all of their Regional Training Institutes and the Army Reserves will receive 70 devices.
The Army is partnering with the Armed Forces Wellness Centers (AFWCs) to help implement and educate the force on the use of the InBody 770s at active-duty locations.
Megan Amadeo, the project officer of AFWC at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., stated that the Army needed to “come into the 21st century, if you will, on how we're measuring body composition for Soldiers. The system we used was a historical way of measuring, so the Army did a bunch of studies to determine what was a new, accurate way to see if someone was not meeting the tape standards.”
The Inbody 770 is a device that provides detailed comprehensive results about an individual's body composition and will transform the way body composition is analyzed and understood. Its precision, non-invasive nature, and ability to provide a comprehensive overview of body composition will make it an indispensable tool for the Army.
The InBody 770 sends multiple mild electrical currents through the body, resulting in up to six different impedance readings that calculate body fat, muscle, and water. This device uses Direct Segmental Multi-Frequency BIA technology to measure body segments separately for an accurate analysis based on your unique body. By passing a low-intensity electric current through the body and measuring its resistance, the device provides an analysis of body composition. The faster the current moves from one lead to another, the more muscle, and less fat the person has.
To use the device, “You enter your Department of Defense Identification (DODID) Number, height and age, grab the handles, and get into the position by holding the handles away from your body at a 45-degree angle,” said Amadeo. “Then you maintain that posture until the test is completed, which is about 60 seconds. The actual measurement piece is super-fast. The health educator is going to sit down with the client, if that's all they're doing that day, review their results and talk about next steps.”
With the InBody 770, Soldiers can receive personalized health and fitness guidance and healthcare providers alongside the AFWC can monitor and treat patients more effectively. And with a portable analysis device like the Inbody 770, AFWC personnel are mobile and can come directly to the Soldier.
“It's important for us to be able to go to the unit where they are, whether it's that morning, where they're having their physical training (PT) and before they do PT,” said Amadeo.
Joanna Ward-Brown, project manager for the AFWC said that being mobile has been a concept of our program.
“We have a lot of mobile equipment that do metabolic testing and ventilatory equivalents for Oxygen (VO2) testing equipment that are portable and essentially all of the services that we have offered at the Wellness Center are portable other than in a sense body composition assessment,” said Ward-Brown. “But by adding the InBody to our arsenal, it makes us more efficient.”
Sgt. Maj. Kelvin Windham, Army Materiel Command’s logistics (G4) sergeant major stated that the importance of the Inbody is to “meet people at that point of need, whereas a Soldier that may normally not have been to an AFWC can get a body composition reading at their location.”
If a Soldier fails the height and weight then fails the one-site taping method, the Soldier can be measured by the multi-circumference based taping method as confirmation until June 12, 2024, as the new method is phased in, Amadeo stated.
“If the Soldier fails both of those versions of the tape test, they can request, if reasonably available, supplemental assessment with the Dual X-ray Absorptiometry, InBody 770 or Bod Pod,” said Amadeo. “These three devices are an advanced way to measure body fat composition.”
By issuing the Inbody 770 at echelon, the Army ensures installations have available resources to accurately measure body composition, when needed.
“By implementing this device at lower echelons, you can use all those capabilities that other facilities use to get the outcome that you need to holistically help Soldier, said Windham.”
As part of H2F, the primary goal of the AFWC and H2F program is to create a holistic approach to health and fitness that fosters the well-being and readiness of Soldiers by focusing on improving the physical, mental, and emotional health of military personnel, all while maintaining or enhancing their job performance and combat readiness. With the issuance of the InBody 770, leaders will have access to a mobile non-invasive device that precisely provides a comprehensive overview of body composition.
| Date Taken: | 11.27.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 11.27.2023 11:23 |
| Story ID: | 458537 |
| Location: | ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,053 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Army issues InBody 770 device to measure body composition, by SGM Shelia Fourman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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