The Pregnant Lineman

Brain damage isn’t the only way that football can kill you.  In 2010 the highly-esteemed New England Journal of Medicine published a study relating obesity to the risk of death within ten years.  The study only looked at non-smoking white males, but it is certainly reasonable to assume that similar trends exist among non-white males.

The study used Body Mass Index (BMI) to evaluate individual’s weights; the BMI essentially measures a person’s mass relative to the square of their height, on the assumption that a taller person will weigh more than a shorter person with an identical build. 

Individuals with abnormal BMI’s had higher risks of death.  Individuals with very high BMI’s had much higher risks of death.

Whenever someone suggests that football’s emphasis on producing morbidly obese players might constitute an unwise health risk, the NFL goes to great lengths to dispute the use of BMI as a measure of obesity.  They will contend that because football players have “athletic” builds and very high strength levels, their inflated BMI’s are not nearly as dangerous as those achieved by non-athletes.

The NFL’s objections are wrong-headed on two accounts.  First, although it is always healthier to be active than inactive at any given BMI, many of the health issues associated with obesity affect individuals regardless of whether the weight is muscle or fat.  Abnormally high BMI’s are dangerous even if the individual is carrying around lots of muscle instead of lots of fat.

Second, there are not many 300-pound lineman in the NFL who are anything resembling lean.  Very few are carrying around 8% body fat—or even 18% body fat. 

Want proof?  According to the World Health Organization, body fat percentages for males between the ages of twenty and forty ought to be no higher than 19%.  According to a 2005 study by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the average offensive lineman’s body fat percentage was 25%.  With an average weight of 308 pounds, that means your typical NFL lineman was carrying around an extra 18.5 pounds of blubber. 

This is about how much a doctor would like to see the average American woman gain. 

During pregnancy.