By Tim Shannon, First Army Division East Public Affairs

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. ? "The days of the Army telling soldiers that their spouse wasn't issued in their rucksack are long gone," said First Army Division East Command Sgt. Maj. Edwin Rodriguez.

The Army considers the soldier's family as part of the soldier. The family is part of the team and if the team suffers, so does the Army. To use the words of the Army: "The Army is the strength of the nation, the soldier is the strength of the Army and the family is the strength of the soldier."

"We now realize that for a soldier to be 100 percent focused on the mission, things at home need to be taken care of. They play a huge role in keeping our soldiers fit and combat ready," Rodriguez explained.

But for families to keep their soldiers fit, they themselves must be taken care of as well. To that end, the Army - and Rodriguez -- encourages families to use the GAT.

The GAT?or Global Assessment Tool - is a web-based survey instrument used to assess the dimensions of emotional, social, spiritual, and family fitness. It is part of the Army's Comprehensive soldier Fitness program.

"Spouses are an equal part of the Army with their soldier because they take care of the home during deployments; they provide emotional and physical support," said Rodriguez. "We must make sure our families are taken care of too."

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness is a long term strategy that better prepares the Army community, including all soldiers, family members, and the Department of the Army civilian workforce, to not only survive, but also thrive at a cognitive and behavioral level in the face of protracted warfare and everyday challenges of Army life that are common in the 21st century.

"We want to get more families interested in taking the GAT and ... then follow up with the modules that address areas that might help them with improving their resiliency," said Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Family Program Manager Dorothy Benford. "These modules help families become more resilient, which adds to their soldier's resiliency, and hopefully the parents will then pass on to their children the role of resiliency in a military family."

There are four pillars of training within the Comprehensive soldier Fitness program: the GAT, Master Resilience Trainers, Comprehensive Resilience Modules, and Institutional training. The CSF program enhances resilience and reduces barriers to seeking behavioral health care.

"It [the comprehensive fitness program] is an excellent program and the five dimensions of strength, which consist of physical, emotional, social, family and spiritual are complimentary to the things the Army Chaplaincy is doing for the Army," said First Army Division East chaplain Lt. Col Jason Logan. "In fact our programs are mutually supporting. The counseling we provide clearly assists soldiers with their emotional, family and spiritual needs of soldiers."

"Good family fitness is an advantage and very influential to Army productivity. The Army is a family of families. The family is the incubator of who and what we become. So goes the family so goes the nation so goes the Army. Statistically, the Army remains for the most part a married Army. The research shows that people who are living in healthy committed relationships live long and do better than those who are alone. Translations, healthy families are an advantage to people and the Army. The family is a resource, a source of strength. The point is the healthier the family the more productive the Army will be," explained Logan.

Logan agreed with Rodriguez that a soldier's family plays a big part in that soldier's overall Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

"The chaplain believes that good family fitness is an advantage and very influential to Army productivity," said Logan.

One way Division East tries to take care of families is with the Strong Bonds program.

"The Army Chaplaincy Strong Bonds program has been a real success story. It complements the CSF specifically because it is a relationship enhancing program. Our Strong Bonds program is similar to CSF in that way," Logan concluded. He encouraged families to contact their unit Chaplin for more information.

First Army Division East, headquartered at Fort Meade, Md., mobilizes, trains, validates deploys and demobilizes Reserve component soldiers to theaters around the world including Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Horn of Africa. Comprised of eight brigades, DivEast ensures soldiers receive the intense training they need to perform hands-on theater-specific operations. When they return home, DivEast members ensure soldiers receive focused-care to ensure standardized and comprehensive demobilization support to resolve physical, mental, administrative and financial issues as well as providing benefits and resources to assist in their transition back to civilian life.

By USDA Undersecretary Kevin Concannon

Fresh fruits and vegetables? Key elements of a healthy diet, for sure. But many people of modest means, including those
served by USDA's nutrition assistance programs, wonder if they can afford to buy healthy foods like the wonderful fresh produce that can be found in summer abundance at America's farmers' markets.

As USDA Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, I find that perception a source of concern because we
work hard to encourage all Americans to make healthy food choices - particularly those participating in USDA's nutrition
assistance programs, from kids in school to the more than 46 million people participating in USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Well, I'm pleased to say that a recent study by USDA's Economic Research Service, "Are Healthy Foods Really More Expensive? It Depends on How You Measure the Price," found that healthy food choices, like fresh fruits and vegetables, may be more affordable than people think.

They found that while it is easy to buy "cheap" calories by using less-healthy foods, there are many healthy food choices that
cost no more per portion than less nutritious foods. Measured by the cost per portion, or per pound, grains, vegetables, fruit, and
dairy foods are actually less expensive than most protein foods and foods high in saturated fat, added sugars, and/or sodium.

This is great news for all those trying to get by with a limited food budget - like people receiving SNAP benefits. You don't have to compromise on good nutrition just because money is tight. And just in time for summer.

If you haven't been to one of the nearly 7,200 farmers' markets across the country, I encourage you to do so. Farmers' markets offer shoppers a wonderful place to find the fresh fruits and vegetables and other local produce so important to a healthy diet - particularly now when farmers' markets are practically bursting with a bounty of summer produce.

USDA strongly supports farmers' markets. And the Food and Nutrition Service, which I oversee, has farmers' market programs for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, for seniors, and for WIC mothers to help provide healthy food for them and their children.

We also encourage farmers markets to accept SNAP electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which makes it easier for SNAP participants to make purchases.

Farmers markets are the ultimate win-win situation. They're a win for customers because they can easily buy the freshest produce available. They're a win for producers because they are a convenient local market for their products.  They also provide a chance for customers and producers to meet face to face and build better understanding of community agriculture and what customers want.

So visit a local farmers' market today - you're in for a treat.  And remember, fresh fruits and vegetables are not only the healthy choice - they're the affordable choice, too.

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Social media sites like Facebook connect users with old friends, new acquaintances and everyone in between. However, studies are revealing an inverse link with online connections and deeper, face-to-face relationships.

Norwegian researchers recently developed a test for networking sites, called the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, which likens inordinate amounts of time spent on the networking site to drug and alcohol abuse. The test measures how often people use the site, if they do so to forget their problems and how using the site negatively affects their personal and working lives.

Researchers found the following groups of people most at risk for Facebook addiction:

• Women, who are more social than men,
• Young people, who are more tech savvy than older people
• Anxious or socially insecure people

"Social media, and the new emphasis on the importance of 'multitasking,' have helped drive a wedge between family members," says psychologist Gregory L. Jantz, author of #Hooked: The Pitfalls of Media, Technology and Social Networking (www.drgregoryjantz.com).

Ironically, people become less social the more time they spend on social sites, and they tend to get less done while multitasking because they do not focus on completing one task at a time, he says.

"When people abuse drugs and alcohol, they are trying to feel better, yet they are worsening their situation. We're finding this is also true for those who spend excessive amounts of time on social networking sites," he says. "Perhaps the hardest hit from social media addiction is the family unit."

Parents should monitor their own time online to ensure it's not further limiting the already shrinking amount of time available with their children, Jantz says. And they need to safeguard their children by monitoring their time, as well. Jantz suggests these questions for parents to ask themselves in gauging their kids' media usage:

• How much time do your kids spend with various forms of media? There are plenty of distractions from homework. Estimate how much time your child spends with the television, internet, social networking sites, cell phone, Blu-rays and game systems. The more time spent with media, the lower a child's academic performance, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study.

• How much time do your kids spend with you versus online media? Remember, simply being in the same room isn't necessarily interacting. The less the scales tip in favor of human-to-human interaction, the more likely there may be a problem.

• Do you know how each device works and how it can be used? Familiarity with your children's gadgets gives you a better perspective of what their habits may be like.

• What are the consequences of their tech habits, and what should be changed? Make a list of the good and the bad consequences of your family's technology use. After comparing the two lists, consider changes that can turn negatives into positives.

"Technology continues at its accelerating pace, and we are in unchartered territory," Jantz says. "Increasingly, social networking infiltrates our personal lives, but we need to remember that it is created to serve us, and not the other way around."

About Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D

Gregory Jantz has more than 25 years experience in mental health counseling and is the founder of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources, near Seattle, Wash. The Center, "a place for hope," provides comprehensive, coordinated care from a treatment team that addresses medical, physical, psychological, emotional, nutritional, fitness and spiritual factors involved in recovery. He is the best-selling author of more than 20 books on topics from depression to eating disorders.

The Executive MBA program through the University of Iowa helps health care professionals improve the quality and delivery of health care products and services to Iowans.

Nearly 20 percent of the 100 students taking EMBA classes in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines work in health care or health care related fields, including ten physicians, CEOs of healthcare facilities, and leaders in medical device and pharmaceutical industries. They learn how to better manage the business of today's increasingly complex health care practices and services so they can be delivered more affordably to Iowans.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

Alex Taylor, associate director of the Tippie EMBA Programs: "Health care makes up 17 percent of US Gross Domestic Product, so it's not a surprise that 20 percent of our students work in health care."

DID YOU KNOW?

The Tippie Executive MBA program is the only program of its type in Iowa.  To find out more go to http://tippie.uiowa.edu/execmba/.