Researchers believe the study of varsity linemen from rosters of all classes of Iowa high school football teams is one of the first and most comprehensive appraisals of obesity in high school football.

Of the players analyzed, 28 percent were deemed at risk of being overweight and 45 percent fit the standards for being overweight, including 9 percent who met adult severe obesity.

"But I think if we're honest about it, at least in this case, we'd have to look at the role models for these young athletes," said George Phillips, MD, a pediatrician at the University of Iowa's Sports Medicine Center and University of Iowa Children's Hospital.

"Most of these kids aren't going to play professionally or even at the college level. So what we need to do is to make sure if they're going to add weight, muscle mass, that they do it in a healthy way."

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George Phillips, MD

University of Iowa Children's Hospital

UI Sports Medicine