NFL Players Obese: Highlights BMI Absurdity
Popular media is rife with a story that 56% of players in the National Football League (NFL) are obese. The alarmist stories cite a letter in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association:
Reports have indicated, although not fully documented, a trend toward larger players in the National Football League (NFL). We investigated whether, despite their status as professional athletes, a large proportion of NFL players would be classified as obese.
It seems that this "scientific" study used little more than the heights and weights of the players as the basis for their conclusions.
This highlights the flaws of the BMI as a measure of obesity. Surely it is time for this irrelevant and outdated measure to be dropped. It takes no account of body composition at all - no allowance for variance in bone density, muscle mass, fluid, or body fat.
Based on the BMI a significant number of people would be classified as obese; pregnant women, bodybuilders, football players, even male gymnasts.
There is no doubt that some of the huge players in the league are carrying a lot of muscle AND a lot of fat. But there's something about that word "obesity" which conjures up thoughts about the evils of fat. It seems that to carry chunks of fat is the worst thing ever.
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It is true that professional athletes who are at a high weight should have their body fat tested and not rely soley on BMI charts. But generally, your average person with a high body mass index is just plain fat. We cant keep making excuses.
ReplyI just want to say that the BMI charts are very inaccurate and cannot be relied upon. I myself am considered to be overweight at 5'9" and 185lbs, however i also have a six pack and 7 percent body fat. I think if you examined a lot of football players more closely you would find quite low body fat and realize that many (not all but many) are actually carying a healthy amount of fat.
ReplyHey yeah i dont believe in that bmi stuff i mean i am 5'3 104 lbs and a bmi of 25? i mean yeah maybe i calculated wrong or somthing but i don't know, its amazing how many athletes are overwieght, i mean i've never considered that till i am doing a report on it this year
ReplyBMI and obesity are not realated. Obesity refers to high body fat levels, not weight level. Take for example Brian Westbrook. He is an Nfl running back who is 5"9 with 215 pounds on him. He has approx. 5 or 6% bodyfat yet is considered obese by BMI standards.
ReplyYou CAN NOT take BMI charts as gospel because they dont take into account muscle which makes up for most of your wait.
Undoubtedly I am still overweight, so I'm not claiming that I don't still need to lose a fair amount of weight (30+ pounds), but when I checked myself out on a BMI calculator, I found that I was described as "obese", although several years ago when I was at a higher weight a doctor told me that I was only "moderately overweight".
I checked my current fitness level against several law enforcement guidelines and the only guideline that I missed was the timed run. Interestingly enough as a 171 pound varsity wrestler, that was the one guideline that I still couldn't reach for the President's Council on Physical Fitness.
I get frustrated because I work on my diet and have substantially increased my exercise (6-8 hours per week with a good balance of cardio and resistance training)and when I check my high school wrestling weight against the BMI calculator, I fall just below obese despite that fact that I was certified all through high school by DOCTORS at the 171 pound weight.
I try to focus more of my efforts on fitness and appearance, but it does become disheartening when despite substantial effort, you find it damn near impossible to meet standardized guidelines.
Even though I'm at 230 at 5'8", when I reach 200 most of my family and friends describe as "fit" or "trim".
ReplyThis calculator is ridiculous. I am currently 6 foot 245 pounds and overweight, but I am by no means obese. I recently ran a marathon and rode in a one day 200+ mile bike race. Much of my body weight is muscle, particularly in my legs yet I am forced to pay extreme premiums on things like health and life insurance as a result of this inaccurate formula.
ReplyBMI is a tool. It only describes a person's overall "thickness". But it cannot describe of what that thickness consists.
Therefore, I don't even believe it is valuable as a statistical tool anymore. Particularly, not since the fitness craze of the 20th century, when any serious anerobic trainer can alter their BMI with increased muscle in just a matter of months.
(BMI was created mid-19th century:)
Replyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index
I thought I would chime in.... as a varcity cheerleader I was 5'6" tall and 165 pounds. a size 6 btw! and it says I was 0verwieght. You couldnt pinch and inch on me anywhere! After highschool I gained 20 pounds and moved up to a more comfortable less starved weight of 185 and a size 10 and it says I'm obese. On what sick planet is a size 10 considered obese? Now, I will be the first to say that 185 pounds does not look the same on everyone. I have seen women that weight 185 at my hieght and they are in a size 18 and up to a 22. BMI is extremely unreliable and should be banned as a method of measuring a person's health. My husband is a marine and is rock hard at 6'2 210 pounds and he is having to fight to stay in the corps due to an iffy bmi!
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