Effects of a Two-Month Training Period on Soldiers’ General Health, Social Physique Anxiety, and Body Mass Index

Changes in the environment and living conditions are associated with changes in physical and cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a two-month military service period on soldiers’ general health, social physique anxiety, and body mass index. Materials and Methods: The sample included all soldiers in Isfahan’s army garrison training period. A 28-item questionnaire on general health, a social physique anxiety questionnaire (Hart et al. 1989) that measured the social physical anxiety and the ratio of weight to the height square calculating body mass index. The results of the paired t-test showed that there were significant differences in pre-test and post-test scores on the general health aspects of anxiety and social physique anxiety and there were no significant differences in other aspects of soldiers’ general health and body mass index. This suggests that the two-month training period affects only the variables of anxiety (anxiety, insomnia, and social physique anxiety). The findings showed that the military training period can significantly affect anxiety, but it cannot affect the health and body mass index.