They may be big, but are football linemen healthy?

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Football players have come under scrutiny for their large physiques. Some studies conclude that despite being big they’re healthy, while others determine their size and body composition may make them more susceptible to certain diseases.

A new study has found that some football linemen may be at risk for metabolic syndrome, a group of factors that can put people at increased risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Some of those risk factors include having extra abdominal fat, high blood pressure, elevated levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and insulin resistance. The research, published in the December issue of the Journal of Athletic Training, tested 70 NCAA football lineman from Division I, II and III schools and found that 34 had metabolic syndrome.

Breaking that down, the athletes’ mean total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio was 4.95, and 32 linemen had values higher than 5. This ratio is used to determine the risk for developing atherosclerosis, or arterial plaque build-up, and ratios of less than 4 are considered good. Fifteen athletes had high levels of C-reactive protein, another marker for determining heart disease risk.

‘I was shocked that that high a percentage qualified for having metabolic syndrome,’ says Jackie Buell, director of sports nutrition in the department of human nutrition at Ohio State University and lead author of the study. ‘I think we assume that because an athlete is engaged in some aerobic activity that they’ll have the benefit of higher HDL (good) cholesterol — but they don’t, and that leaves them in a poor place.’

Many athletes, Buell says, want to gain lean mass, but aren’t always sure of the best ways to go about it: ‘It’s hard to gain weight at a reasonable pace and gain it as lean mass.’ She adds that some linemen don’t like doing cardiovascular exercise, which could cut heart disease risk. They also may not be getting adequate nutritional counseling.

The message for athletic trainers, coaches and team physicians is to screen for metabolic syndrome early on. ‘I would like to see them take some of these easy-to-measure risk factors more seriously and do more investigation,’ she says. ‘Education needs to happen from there.’

-- Jeannine Stein