Precision Nutrition Impact on Health-Related Behavior Change

Precision nutrition leverages the specificity of molecular and phenotypic differences in personalizing diet and lifestyle interventions. Specific Aims: 1) Examine the effectiveness of gene-based nutrition counseling on health-related behavior change in service members as measured by body weight, body mass index (BMI), blood glucose, lipids, 25-hydroxyvitamin (OH) D, %body fat (BF), waist circumference, and blood pressure; 2) Evaluate the feasibility of a digital application to accurately capture diet, activity, and sleep behaviors; and 3) Describe military-unique characteristics in demographics, diet, and lifestyle for northwest Army and southwest Air Force cohorts.

A baseline genomic profile will be created from 70 diet-responsive genes and 80 variants following amplicon sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq platform and will be informed by serum biomarkers specific to diet-related chronic disease risk (i.e. metabolic syndrome, vitamin D deficiency) for each subject. Risk variants were selected if minor allele frequency > 5% and at least two published papers verified the link to the phenotype of interest. Treatment group receives gene-based nutrition counseling for six weekly sessions; Controls receive evidence-based nutrition pamphlets, all content directed at preventing metabolic syndrome. A digital app provides real-time health data capture with continuous feedback and is verified by in-person dietitian interviews. Both groups will also use study resources independently for six weeks, returning for final body composition and serum biomarkers after the twelve-week intervention. The control group receives the genomic profile with dietary recommendations upon study completion. Data analysis will examine between-group and by-cohort differences on primary anthropometric and biomarker outcomes.

Inclusion criteria

• Active duty Army or Air Force
• Age 18-45
• Able to read and comprehend English
• Assigned to JBLM or JBSA-Lackland,
• Remaining on station for 5 months
• Consider self generally healthy
• History of or currently out of compliance with military fitness standards
• Willing to submit 2 blood samples including one for gene testing
• Willing to undergo 1 DEXA scan (JBLM only)
• Willing to participate in 6 weekly nutrition counseling sessions if assigned to treatment group

Exclusion criteria

• Currently diagnosed with an eating disorder
• Pregnant
• Current physical training profile (ie limitation)
• Pending deployment in next 5 months
• Pending retirement in next 5 months
• Pending permanent change of duty station in the next 5 months
• Currently has a pacemaker (contraindicated for bioelectrical impedance analysis)