Nutrient content of menu for basic recruit training in military foodservice - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 444

recommendation of energy intake for soldiers
in training by PMAT. Thus, the catering should
have provided additional foods to meet the energy
demands during basic recruit training.
Comparison of energy from the menu by the con-
tract catering was compared with energy from the
military cookhouses (Isa 1991) in the basic training
centre. Energy value provided by the military cook-
house was 3070 kcal and this means that the catering
served less energy from the food than the previous
military cookhouse, with energy value 2772 to 2843
kcal. Energy contribution of macronutrients from
the menu by the catering was 17.4 to 18.3% from
protein, 31.6 to 32.8% from fat and 49.8 to 50.1%
from carbohydrate meaning that the protein in the
menu of the catering was within recommendation
of 10 to 15% of the RNIs of Malaysia. Fat content
in the menu was shown to exceed the recommended
range of fat intake of between 20 to 30% while car-
bohydrate did not achieved the 50 to 70% of rec-
ommended carbohydrate intake of the RNIs. The
catering should supply more carbohydrate foods
and reduced the fat content in the menu for soldiers
during basic recruit training. The menu were nutri-
tionally adequate for these nutrients; vitamin A,
vitamin C, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, sodium
and zinc except for calcium and dietary fibre. Menu
should be monitored for high fat, high sodium, low
calcium and low dietary fiber that may impact the
health of soldiers. Thus, corrective action is neces-
sary to improve the diet for recruits.
As a conclusion, menu provided by the catering
did not meet the military dietary recommenda-
tion (PMAT) for male recruits of minimum 3200
kcal/day and calcium and dietary fiber provided in
the menu were not adequate for the male recruits.
Menu that did not meet the nutrition recommen-
dations may place the recruits at increased risk
of health consequences such as fatigue due to
low intake of carbohydrate food and high body
fat percentage due to high fat intake. This study
is important as it will provide the menu planners
of the catering with current benchmark of nutri-
ent content of the menu, which are required to the
formulation of managerial policies for menu plan-
ning in the Malaysian Armed Forces. Future stud-
ies should compare the nutritional adequacy of the
menu with female recruits as this population is at
nutritional risk during basic recruit training.

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