title: Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among college football linemen.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Canadian amateur football players.
  
  
  METHODS
  University football players from Saskatchewan were invited to participate in this study. Each subject underwent screening for blood pressure using a BpTRU monitor, and serum cholesterol and fasting blood glucose using a Cholestech LDX analyzer. Waist circumference was recorded and body composition was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS were compared between linemen and non-linemen using independent sample t-tests for continuous data and chi-square for dichotomous variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 39 players who consented to participate, 14% of linemen (3/21) and no non-linemen satisfied metabolic syndrome criteria. Compared to non-linemen, linemen had a higher waist circumference (108.0 vs. 82.9 cm; p<0.001), higher total body fat composition (26.4% vs. 11.2%; p<0.001), lower mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.93, vs. 1.12 mmol/L; p=0.021) and higher fasting blood glucose (5.22 vs. 4.77 mmol/L; p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite their young age and participation in an elite-level athletic program, many collegiate-level football linemen had features of metabolic syndrome. Although our study focused on a single team, we suspect these trends may be consistent across the country.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Electronic address: kerry.mansell@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mansell
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blackburn
authors.affiliation: College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Terra
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arnason
keywords: football players; joueurs de football; metabolic syndrome; obesity; syndrome metabolique