ArticleThe American journal of medicine2018
Weight Gain and Health Affliction Among Former National Football League Players.
Article in The American journal of medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of arthritis and total joint arthroplasty with self-reported function in former professional American-style football players.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Prevalence and predictors of obstructive sleep apnea in collegiate football players.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2025Article
- Metabolic Surgery and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: Perceptions of Former NFL Players.Obesity surgery · 2024Article
- Concussion burden and later-life cardiovascular risk factors in former professional American-style football players.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Article
- Inter-season training effects on cardiovascular health in American-style football players.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Activity levels across the intensity spectrum in athletes: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- The association between playing professional American football and longevity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Pain Acceptance Among Retired National Football League Athletes: Implications for Clinical Intervention.Journal of clinical sport psychology · 2023Article
- Healthspan and chronic disease burden among young adult and middle-aged male former American-style professional football players.British journal of sports medicine · 2022Article
- Interassociation Consensus Statement on Sports Nutrition Models for the Provision of Nutrition Services From Registered Dietitian Nutritionists in Collegiate Athletics.Journal of athletic training · 2022Article
- Hypertension and Ventricular-Arterial Uncoupling in Collegiate American Football Athletes.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2022Observational
- Association between race and maladaptive concentric left ventricular hypertrophy in American-style football athletes.British journal of sports medicine · 2022Article
- Individual and cumulative health afflictions are associated with greater impairment in physical and mental function in former professional American style football players.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2022Article
- Article
- Sleep and Mental Health Issues in Current and Former Athletes: A Mini Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs and Cardiovascular Risk in American Football.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2020Observational
- Premortem Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Diagnoses in Professional Football.Annals of neurology · 2020Article
- Negative health consequences of pain catastrophizing among retired National Football League athletes.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2020Article
- Self-Reported Cognitive Function and Mental Health Diagnoses among Former Professional American-Style Football Players.Journal of neurotrauma · 2020Article
- Prevalence of total hip and knee arthroplasty in former National Football League players: comparison with the general US population and other populations of professional athletes.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundProfessional American-style football players are among the largest athletes across contemporary sporting disciplines. Weight gain during football participation is common, but the health implications of this early-life weight gain remain incompletely understood. We sought to define weight trajectories of former professional American-style football athletes and to establish their relationship with 5 common health afflictions (cardiovascular disease, cardiometabolic disease, neurocognitive impairment, sleep apnea, and chronic pain).
methodsA health survey was distributed to former National Football League (NFL) players. Former players reported body weight at 4 time points (high school, college, professional, and time of survey response) as well as maximal retirement weight. Logistic regression was used to assess associations between weight gain during football participation and health affliction.
resultsIn this cohort of former NFL players (n = 3,506, age 53 ± 14 years), mean weight increase from high school to time of survey response was 40 ± 36 pounds, with the majority of weight gain occurring during periods of football participation (high-school-to-college and college-to-professional). The prevalence of health afflictions ranged from 9% (cardiovascular disease) to 28% (chronic pain). Weight gain during football participation was independently associated with risk of multiple later-life health afflictions in models adjusted for football exposure, lifestyle variables, and post-career weight gain.
conclusionsEarly-life weight gain among American-style football athletes is common and is associated with risk of adverse health profiles during later-life. These findings establish football-associated weight gain as a key predictor of post-career health and raise important questions about the central role of targeted weight gain in this population.
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