But league-sponsored study shows players fare better on other health measures than average-sized men

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CHICAGO - Supersized pro football players are prone to high blood pressure but fare better on some other health measures than more average-sized men, new NFL-sponsored research shows.

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the associated press

Baltimore Ravens defensive tackles Justin Bannan (94) and Haloti Ngata (92) and linebacker Ray Lewis, come to the line of scrimmage during an NFL football game against Washington.

The mixed results suggest that intense physical conditioning can help reduce but not wipe out ill effects excess weight has on heart disease-related risks.

Compared with other men their age, the NFL players studied were more than twice as likely to have high blood pressure -- 14 per cent versus six per cent for non-players.

Among the biggest players -- linemen with a body mass index in the obese range -- about 90 per cent had either high blood pressure or pre-hypertension, which is less dangerous but still risky. The biggest players also had worse levels of "good" cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides, but fewer signs of pre-diabetes than non-players.

The NFL and study authors downplayed the negative findings from a pool of 504 players of all sizes. Except for high blood pressure, the authors said, players on average faced no greater heart disease risks than men their same age in the general population.

But heart disease experts not involved in the study said grouping lean quarterbacks with big beefy linemen doesn't make sense.

"It's mixing apples and oranges," said Cleveland Clinic heart specialist Dr. Steven Nissen, adding the results show "it's unhealthy to have excess body fat whether you're an athlete or not."

The study appears in yesterday's Journal of the American Medical Association. The research didn't look at actual heart disease, but a previous study found that retired NFL linemen faced increased chances of dying from heart problems compared with other players and the general population.

Justin Bannan, a six-foot-three, 310-pound defensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens was among the study subjects. By standard criteria, he'd be considered obese with a BMI over 38. Other than that, Bannan said his results were "pretty normal" and he feels "pretty fit for the size I am."

"The problem is when you're done playing, as a lineman, you're going to have to make some changes" to avoid health risks, he said.

The new study involved 504 players aged 27 on average, or about one-quarter of NFL players excluding rookies. The group included almost 200 of the largest players -- offensive and defensive linemen -- but also a sizable portion of leaner players including nearly 100 quarterbacks, kickers and receivers.

Their 2007 health records were compared with data from almost 2,000 similar-aged non-playing men in a different health study.

Nearly 58 per cent of the players had a body mass index of at least 30, in the obese range. But all 109 of the offensive linemen were obese, versus 16 per cent of the comparison group.