Yesterday, professors of kinesiology and preventative medicine released shocking findings on USA Today:
70 percent of professional baseball players are overweight, and an additional 10 percent are obese.
Professional baseball player obesity has changed
The researchers admit they can’t find a single source to blame for baseball players’ bodies changing since the first records they have:
We can’t pinpoint one specific reason for the spike. Even so, body composition can change for both sanctioned and unsanctioned reasons, such as improved training regimens and performance-enhancing drug use. The rise in combined tonnage coincides with changes in these practices in Major League Baseball.
As a result of their research, they urge professional organizations to track their athletes’ measurables, and to “take a broad perspective on the impact of body mass when evaluating players.”
Should we be worried about baseball player obesity?
The findings met with strenuous debate online from many individuals.
For example, the managing editor of Baseball America:
Or fitness gurus:
Or baseball players, themselves:
In fact, if you search Twitter for reactions to the baseball player obesity article, you’ll find a great number of responses, all disagreeing with the research.
So wait. Are baseball players overweight, or not?
If this is confusing — why professors are worried about professional athletes, but a lot of people are saying they shouldn’t be — it all comes down to BMI.
It’s a measurement that should be an accurate way to tell how healthy someone is by determining if their weight is proportionate to their height. But as you can see in the tweets above, many people find its accuracy fluctuates, particularly for athletes or muscular invidivuals.
What do you think? Are we facing an increase in overweight athletes? Let us know on Twitter @ncsa.
No matter what your measurables are, you should be sure to include them on your NCSA profile. The more information coaches can use to search for you, the better. Get started with a digital profile today.
