the average body fat values observed in this study ranged from 6% (linebackers) to 10% (offensive linemen/tight ends) greater than the ‘‘ideal’’ values by position recommended previously by Crews and Meadors (6). In addition to the potential negative impact of this increase in body fat on playing performance (1, 5, 6), what is of perhaps more critical importance are the health implications of this increase in body fat. The defensive linemen and the offensive linemen/tight ends are on average greater than 25% body fat, the borderline for obesity in men of this age group. Moreover, as is evident from the differences across playing position in skinfold site thickness, much of this fat is deposited in the abdominal and subscapularis regions. This finding is of significant medical importance when one considers cross-sectional studies that have shown abdominal obesity to be strongly correlated with risk factors for ischemic heart disease, stroke, and non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (4).
A secondary purpose of this study was to determine the strength of several different formulas that can be used to determine percentage body fat with respect to both the actual percentage body fat calculated when using that particular formula and its ability to quantify the trend in body composition differences commonly observed in football across the different playing positions. The formulas that were chosen varied in the number of skinfold measures that were required and the skinfold sites that were used.