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To the Editor: Obesity among professional football players has been documented, with recommendations that it be further investigated among amateur athletes.¹ Adolescent overweight is related to unfavorable cardiovascular disease risk factors and predicts overweight in young adulthood.² We therefore examined the prevalence of overweight and obesity in high school football linemen, the players who tend to be heaviest.

Methods

Data were obtained on 3683 linemen from publicly available varsity rosters,³ including 100% of the players from 251 (69%) of the 364 Iowa high school teams during fall 2005. At least 2 teams from each of Iowa's 47 districts were included, making the sample likely to be representative of all players. Data for height, weight, and year in school were taken as reported on the roster. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Linemen were classified as at risk of overweight (BMI 85th . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Kelly R. Laurson, MS; Joey C. Eisenmann, PhD
jce@iastate.edu
Laboratory for the Study of Growth, Maturation, and Physical Activity
Department of Health and Human Performance
Iowa State University
Ames

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High school linemen are too heavy for their health
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