If you're in the NFL?

When the 23 yo SF player Thomas Herrion died a few weeks ago I saw numerous articles pointing out his BMI and showing the replays of him running about 20 yards. The expert doctors kept saying that his BMI was over 30 it was too much of a strain on him.

Here's something from CNN, wondering what your opinion is

The first-year guard, a longshot to make the final roster, was listed at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, about average for an NFL lineman. But when measured on the body-mass index scale, which is a commonly accepted standard of fitness in the medical community, Herrion would be considered "severely obese."

And though obesity can't necessarily be blamed for the death -- at least not at this point -- one expert says it surely could have been a contributor.

"Obesity is associated with sudden death," said Dr. Joyce Harp, a University of North Carolina endocrinologist who recently did a study calculating the BMIs of all NFL players and found that almost all players qualified as overweight or obese.

The BMI scale is a misleading index, it does not account for muscle, fat or bone, just height and weight. Not just NFL athletes, almost all athletes who require strong muscles will be considered obeses using the BMI scale.

To determine obesity levels, they need to account for body fat ratios instead.

Beside that, many lean young people with low BMI's die suddenly as well, so it doesn't mean a thing based on BMI.

Wa'il

You raise a very interesting issue.

Even if a person has a resonable body fat percentage, the internal organs still have to supply the chemicals used by the larger amounts of muscle and fat mass.

The heart has to pump blood to all the extra tissue, so even at rest, it works harder than it would in a thinner person.

The joints and connective tissue will be under strain from the extra mass, even if the mass if mostly muscle.

The liver would be process a larger amount of chemicals and could possibly be overworked and less efficient in detoxifying harmful substances.

Do you know what kind of conditioning football players go through?
Running stairs, running laps, riding stationary bikes, lifting weights, practice. Hours a day, days on end. Their cardiovascular systems are in incredible shape, and they have to be considering the effort it takes to play 4 quarters of football against some of the finest athletes in the world.

My own guess is either something congenital, or something related to chemical performance enhancement. But if it's reasonable for 23 year old men to die because they weigh 300 pounds, it seems to me you'd be seeing NFL players dropping like flies, let alone sumo wrestlers, some of whom weigh a lot more than any pro lineman.

Hasn't the autopsy been done yet? It's been over a week, which makes me wonder if the autopsy was done, but revealed something unflattering. The press reports on his character were glowing, going all the way back to high school, and perhaps no one wants to mess that image up.

What isn't clear is how unhealthy it is to simply be large, not obese. I'm large framed, but not all that tall. I won't weigh less than 200 pounds and be healthy. I have a good friend who is 6'6" and hit a high of 360 pounds. He had an NFL lineman's frame. He's one of the chief reasons I pursued low carb. He lost to 275 pounds and looks good at that size. He certainly won't lose past 250 and be healthy. He is afraid that his sheer size (not his body fat) will limit his lifespan, based on that statistics, based on the reasons you cite above. Even if he loses most of his body fat, his sheer size and the strain of that will limit him.

Are there statistics on life span and size, not related to obesity?

I'm sure there are. I recall reading something that short, small people live longer than tall ones.

What's that song again... "short people..."? *giggle* I mean... what a terrible song!

That is a fallacy. Muscle by design is more supportive of itself than fat.

The muscle is more self-supporting of itself than fat, but joints and connective tissue are not comprised of muscle. It's no secret that heavier weights, whether that weight be from fat and muscle, cause greater strain, wear and tear on the joints and connective tissues of the feet, legs and back.

Thanks for the update Dodger, although I'm sad that such a young athletic person would have a blocked artery.

Thanks every one of you for the responses, I enjoyed reading your opinions and seeing where the tangents went.

My answer to this question is unequivocally YES.

Offensive linemen in the NFL are strong, yes, and in shape by certain standards, but they often have a lot of extra weight as well. They are there because they are so huge that the massive and quick defensive guy can't push them aside or even run around them fast.

I don't know if this is significant or not, but as a rule, bigger dogs don't live as long as small ones. Great Danes have an average life span of 5 years compared to 15 years for many smaller breeds. I was told that their size is the factor - their heart wears out from pumping so hard to accomodate their large body. Maybe people are similar?

If this was true, we'd find most of the residents of senior homes to be extremely short or even dwarfs, but this is not the case.

Wa'il

Pro football players definitely have a shorter average lifespan, because of their size and also the lifestyle and amount of abuse their body takes when playing.

I think you only get to make so much poop in life. The bigger the poop, the shorter the life span.

The residents of senior homes are mostly women, Wa'il. Who happen to be smaller than men on average. And there are most likely proportionately fewer obese residents. It is somewhat less related to height, than to weight.

There are so many physiological differences between the genders, I don't think the difference in life expectancy can be attributed to the difference in weight with any certainty.

Wyv