NFL Players’ Size May Not Harm Heart

Despite their large size, pro football players may have just an average risk of heart disease, a study suggests. Researchers examined 504 National Football League players. Their average body mass index was 31. Above 30 is considered obese. But the weight was mostly muscle. The typical NFL player had only 14% body fat. The players were compared with a larger group of young men. They had lower blood sugar and similar cholesterol. But the football players had almost three times the rate of high blood pressure as the other young men. They also were more than 2½ times as likely to have prehypertension. This means that pressure is above normal but still below the high blood pressure range. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Associated Press wrote about it May 27.