Fall 2024 - 14

MILITARY
NUTRITIONAL READINESS
Utilizing the Military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool
By United States Department of Defense
he purpose of the Military Nutrition
Environment Assessment Tool (mNEAT) is
to guide the assessment of a military installation's
nutrition environment and policies related to
promoting and supporting healthy eating.
The m-NEAT was adapted from the
Michigan Nutrition Environment Assessment
Tool (NEAT) (Michigan Healthy Communities
Collaborative, 2011) and the Nutrition
Environment Measures Survey (NEMS) from
Emory University (Glanz et al., 2007). The
m-NEAT is the first tool developed to assess
the food environment for the unique structure
of military installations.
The mNEAT 3.0 incorporates DOD policy,
Federal Food Service Guidelines, and
assessment-based action plan guidance. The
mNEAT process has evolved since the first
version in 2011.
14 | Tactical Training & Conditioning | Fall 2024
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In the Army, the Commander's Ready and
Resiliency Council (CR2C) is an optimal venue
for presenting an installation-wide nutritional
environment assessment to senior leaders.
Coordinate with the Commander's Ready and
Resiliency Integrator (CR2I) and discuss the
mNEAT process within the Physical Health
Work Group (or a similar work group) to start the
mNEAT assessment. The Registered Dietitian on
the installation is usually the lead for the mNEAT
assessment and during the post-assessment
phase (i.e., development and implementation of
local plans).
To conduct the mNEAT, engage community
stakeholders. Look for multi-disciplinary areas of
expertise. Broad participation is important for a
meaningful assessment and successful
planning. This allows for better collaboration
during action plan development and
Fall 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fall 2024
