On Thursday, November 28, 2024, the Doctoral Program in Public Health at the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) of the Universitas Indonesia (UI) held an open doctoral promotion session for Dwi Monik Purnamasari. The session was chaired by Prof. Dr. dra. Ratu Ayu Dewi Sartika, Apt., M.Sc., as the Chair of the Session and the Chair of the Examination Team, Prof. Ir. Ahmad Syafiq, M.Sc., Ph.D., as the Promoter, and Prof. Dr. Besral, S.K.M., M.Sc., as the Co-Promoter. The examination team consisted of Prof. dr. Endang L. Achadi, M.P.H., Dr.PH.; Dr. Ir. Trini Sudiarti, M.Si.; Dr. Ir. Asih Setiarini, M.Sc.; and Dr. Leonardo Lubis, dr., AIFO-K., M.Kes., FASEP., FACSM. Monik defended her dissertation titled “A Predictive Model of the Impact of Basic Military Training on Body Composition in Cadets at the Indonesian Defense University.”
The prevalence of obesity in Indonesia continues to rise. Body fat percentage is one of the most accurate body composition parameters for detecting obesity as it directly measures body fat. Various factors affect body composition, including intensive training such as basic military training. The nutritional status of cadets at the Indonesian Defense University (Unhan RI), as a component of the nation’s defense reserve, needs to be monitored due to its impact on the physical performance of the cadets. The development of a predictive model for body fat percentage can be useful for determining the occurrence of obesity among cadet communities after undergoing basic military training. This study was conducted on cadet students from the 4th cohort in 2023. Nutritional status was measured before and after 12 weeks of basic military training.
In this study, anthropometric indicators such as waist circumference, skinfold thickness (triceps, biceps, suprailiac, subscapular), body weight, BMI Z-score, subcutaneous fat, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, as well as other indicators influencing nutritional status including sleep quality, eating habits, and physical activity, were measured before and after basic military training. The results showed that overall, the body composition of male and female cadet students from Unhan RI improved post-basic military training, and a predictive model for delta and total body fat percentage post-basic military training in both males and females was developed.
Monik suggested that the results of this research could be used to evaluate the basic military training program for cadet students at Unhan RI, which has been designed and implemented at the Indonesian Military Academy. Information regarding the impact of basic military training on aspects of health and nutritional status, as well as the predictive model derived from this study, can be communicated to Unhan RI and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. This information can serve as a supportive method for estimating or detecting body fat percentage after basic military training, contributing to obesity prevention and providing data for follow-up actions on cadets who experience overweight and obesity after training.
Based on her dissertation, Dwi Monik Purnamasari was declared successful and earned the degree of Doctor in Public Health (PH) as the 42nd graduate of the 2024 PH doctoral program, the 338th graduate of the Public Health doctoral program, and the 433rd doctoral graduate of FPH UI, with the distinction of Cum Laude.