The American journal of cardiologyAug 21, 2010

Differences in heart and metabolism risk factors between professional baseball and football players

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

Professional baseball players exhibited favorable cardiovascular parameters compared to professional football players.

69 professional football players and 155 professional baseball players participated in the study.
Body mass index, waist circumference, and waist/height ratio were higher in professional football linemen compared to baseball players.
Professional baseball players had lower rates of obesity and hyperglycemia than their football counterparts.
Hypertension was more prevalent among baseball players compared to the reference population.
Overall, baseball players showed a reduced risk for cardiometabolic syndrome compared to professional football linemen.

Simplified

In 2006, a newspaper report indicated an increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease and early mortality in retired professional football players compared to professional baseball players. This study included 69 professional football players from a 2008 National Football League training camp and 155 professional baseball players from an American League 2009 spring training site who volunteered to participate in a study of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. The prevalence of body mass index > or =30 kg/m(2), waist circumference > or =100 cm, waist/height ratio >0.5, blood pressure > or =130/85 mm Hg, triglycerides > or =150 mg/dl, triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio >3.5, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol < or =40 mg/dl, and alanine aminotransferase > or =40 IU/L was determined in baseball players and compared to measurements obtained in a matched cohort from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), professional football players, and linemen and nonlinemen subsets. In conclusion, professional baseball players had favorable cardiovascular parameters, with the exception of an increased prevalence of hypertension, compared to the reference population, and professional baseball players had decreased measures of obesity, hyperglycemia, and the cardiometabolic syndrome compared to professional football lineman.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View Full Text ↗

Differences in heart and metabolism risk factors between professional baseball and football players

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief