Study: H.S. football players overweight

Grain of salt alert!

No doubt too many kids are too big and too heavy and too fat and need to lose weight. Possibly even these kids.

But, using BMI data applied to athletes, especially football linemen, is of uncertain value.

Here is a possible voice of reason, "Dr. Edward Wojtys, an orthopedic surgeon and chief at the University of Michigan Sports Medicine Service, said the BMI fails to account for muscle mass and lean tissue and is less accurate than more sophisticated measuring techniques."

See, there are three types of athletes: power, speed and endurance.

Football linemen are closest to the power type. These are the athletes from the study. They are also the athletes most likely to "fool" the BMI.

By applying the BMI to these athletes, the downside is that the BMI will get discounted across the board, citing this "inaccuracy" as an example.

The BMI works pretty well for most of us. The better approach to this study would have been to employ the "more sophisticated measuring techniques" which are better suited to these very special athletes.