Post-9/11

(Reuters Health) - Military service members who are at risk for suicide may be less likely to attempt to harm themselves when they receive supportive text messages, a U.S. study suggests.

WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs officials promised Wednesday to use the agency’s full budget this year for suicide prevention outreach, following the discovery that the VA didn’t use nearly $5 million allotted for that purpose in fiscal year 2018.

“This year, I’m making sure that we are spending the funding 100 percent,” said Dr. Steven Lieberman, who is in charge of the Veterans Health Administration. “I’m reviewing the budget monthly and making sure we have obligated all the dollars. We have to get it right.”

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but veterans don’t seem to be buying the advice.

A comprehensive Wounded Warrior Project survey of more than 33,000 veterans and service members, released Tuesday, shows a vast majority of vets aren’t eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables each day — and could be missing out on key health benefits as a result.

“It’s widely recognized that a healthy eating plan is critical for good health and for mitigating the effects of chronic disease,” said Melanie Mousseau, metrics director for the Wounded Warrior Project.

In a newly released report, scientists have called on Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs to fund a new program aimed at studying the generational health effects among veterans of the Gulf and post-9/11 wars.

The report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine comes less than two weeks after the same group called on the VA to look at generational exposure to dioxin — a component of Agent Orange.