Why the study?
Does former NFL player status and playing-time BMI affect overall and cardiovascular mortality risk compared to the general US male population?
Does former NFL player status and playing-time BMI affect overall and cardiovascular mortality risk compared to the general US male population?
Former NFL players generally have lower overall and cardiovascular mortality than the general US male population, but those with the highest playing-time BMI face an elevated risk of cardiovascular mortality.
Lower overall mortality in former NFL players supports elite athlete benefits, yet high-BMI subgroup signals caution; extends prior cohorts while leaving causal effects open.
Consistent with an earlier NFL cohort and other elite athlete populations, the overall and cardiovascular mortality risk of this NFL cohort was significantly lower than that of the general US male population, likely attributable to a healthy worker effect and less smoking.However, players with the highest playing-time BMI exhibited elevated cardiovascular mortality risk.
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Lincoln et al. (2017) studied this question.
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