Conscripts’ attitudes towards health and eating. Changes during the military service and associations with eating

The study explores young men's (n = 290) attitudes towards food and eating before and during military service and their associations with eating of sweet and fatty foods. Before service eating of sweet foods was associated negatively with health interest and positively with craving for sweet foods and using food as a reward, and eating of fatty foods negatively with health interest. At six months of service, craving, using food as a reward and pleasure increased, whereas health interest remained stable. At six months, eating of sweet foods was negatively associated with health interest and positively with craving. Mentally and physically hard conditions and easy access to indulgence items, affect the food related attitudes and food consumption among conscripts.