FORT SILL, Okla. (April 20, 2018) -- Editor's note: This is this the continuation of a series discussing Fort Sill's Healthy Army Communities and the Community Strengths and Themes Assessment. This portion addresses physical health.
The results of the Community Strengths and Themes Assessment were broken down into five main areas based on the Department of the Army's (DA) Domains of Readiness: physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and family.
A council was set up at Fort Sill to identify priorities in each domain. In terms of physical concerns the efforts focused not only on Soldier physical fitness, but also that of family members and DA civilians.
"We are a total Army family and that includes not only Soldiers, but also their families and the (DA) civilians and contractors who support them," said Lisa Martinez, Community Ready and Resilient Integrator for Fort Sill. "In order for our Soldiers to be mission ready, their support channels have to be steadfast and resilient as well."
The results showed that overall among surveyors, the majority of people feel they are physically fit (more than 50 percent). In addition to a self-perceived image of health, the surveyors also said others on the installation were healthy. Less than half believing people on Fort Sill are unhealthy.
The military's ever-changing environment creates stress for Soldiers, family members, and DA civilians, said Martinez.
She said many studies conclude that across all populations physical activity and healthy eating have beneficial effects across several physical- and mental-health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, orthopedic ailments, sleep issues, and depression.
"Individuals who engage in regular physical activity show improvements in general and health-related quality of life, better functional capacity and better mood states," Martinez said. "If you are maintaining your physical health the ability for you to handle the stressors of military life in a positive way is much greater. This effects how our families deal with things like deployments and the long hours of their drill sergeant spouses, both of which cause increased stress.
"Additionally, if civilians on the installation are physically healthier, that equates to a reduction in sick days and a more day-to-day productivity."
The results of the survey provide senior leaders and installation's organization experts areas identified by the community as facets to focus on.
Despite surveyors reporting an overall feeling of "health" the survey dived into specific areas and discovered the five physical health-related concerns were obesity, poor diet, lack of fitness, high blood pressure and tobacco use.
In the 2016, 12.7 percent of Soldiers across the Army and 11.8 percent of Soldiers at Fort Sill had a chronic health condition. In the same year, 26.6 percent of Fort Sill Soldiers reported using tobacco compared to 26.4 percent of Soldiers across the Army.
Martinez said cardiovascular disease (including hypertension) was the most common chronic health condition, and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports tobacco as the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the United States.
"In the 2017 Health of the Force Report, assessment was done for chronic conditions that included cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes, many of which can be prevented and managed in part by adopting healthy lifestyle choices, such as maintaining weight and avoiding tobacco use," she said.
"Each year nearly half a million Americans die prematurely of smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke.
"Another 16 million live with a serious illness caused by smoking all causing the U.S. to spend nearly $170 billion on medical care to treat smoking-related disease in adults. Smokeless tobacco increases the risk for death from heart disease and stroke, causes cancer of the mouth, esophagus and pancreas, and creates increase risk for early (childbirth) and stillbirth when used during pregnancy," she said.
For Fort Sill leaders, the big question following the survey is "what now?"
In terms of physical health, Martinez said Fort Sill is full of programs and resources. The Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation supports multiple fitness centers in addition to fitness classes each week to include water aerobics, Zumba, Pilates, yoga, etc.
Additionally, there are monthly hiking programs organized by Outdoor Recreation as well as child, youth, and intramural sports.
Improving physical health on Fort Sill extends to include installation partners.
The Main Exchange and the commissary have made adjustments in healthy eating options with the Army Air Force Exchange Service working with Reynolds Army Health Clinic to provide videos on healthier eating options on post.
"Installation partners and senior leaders are consistently assessing the Fort Sill environment to identify areas that need maintenance or improvements to ensure the infrastructure supports healthy living," Martinez said. "This includes things like maintaining and updating playgrounds in housing to road construction policies that allow space for bike paths and sidewalks. Leaders are also looking at additional healthy eating options and extended fitness center hours."
Martinez encourages use of the Community Resource Guide located on the Fort Sill homepage or at https://go.usa.gov/ for more information on current resources available.
Other Fort Sill healthy initiatives include:
- The Army Wellness Center (AWC) offers metabolic analysis and body composition assessments, frequently known as the BodPod, to assist individuals in developing strategies to safely reach their weight management and fitness goals. These are only a couple of things the AWC provides to the installation.
- Reynolds Army Healthy Clinic provides assets in the Health and Readiness Center that include a certified dietitian, an Army Wellness Center annex and Tobacco Cessation for those interested in quitting tobacco.
- Goldner Fitness Center, which reopened April 17, as a functional fitness center.
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