Fears for the fuller figure

American football faces a weighty problem. The big men of the National Football League are getting bigger and are storing up health problems and even the prospect of premature death as they head towards retirement.

Just a decade ago, only 70 players in the NFL weighed 300 pounds or more, yet this season, that number soared to 318 among the estimated 2,000 players in the 32 professional teams.

The sight of a giant defensive lineman such as 303lb Tampa Bay Buccaneer behemoth Warren Sapp crashing at full force into another man-mountain on the opposition's offense is one of the great spectacles of America's most popular sport, but experts warn that the continual quest for more bulk, muscle, weight and power is becoming dangerous. In other words, greed is not good.

'The rate these guys are increasing in size is scary,' said Dr Kevin Guskiewicz, research director of the Centre for the Study of Retired Athletes at North Carolina University. 'Those who play at a high weight may be fit by some definitions now but they're the ones most at risk. We've seen increasing rates of heart disease, arthritis and skeletal problems, hypertension and depression.'

There is nothing new about big players in the NFL - the 340-pound William Perry, nicknamed 'The Refrigerator', became a celebrity because of his size long before he won the Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears in 1985 - but the alarm bells were already ringing when Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer died in 2001.

The 6ft 4in Stringer, who weighed 346 pounds, collapsed during a training session in sweltering heat, and his weight was later blamed as a significant contributory factor. A 1994 study found that linemen had a 52 per cent greater risk of a heart attack than the general population, and Dr Guskiewicz is leading a new detailed investigation into the health of nearly 3,000 retired NFL players aged between 27 and 94.

Although in its early stages, it has already uncovered a wide range of diseases and ailments at earlier ages than might otherwise be expected and a substantial increase in the average body mass index (BMI, a measure of body fat calculated by dividing weight by the square of height) of retired players. Anyone with a BMI higher than 30 is considered clinically obese, according to America's National Institute of Health. Dr Guskiewicz reckons that the average BMI of an active lineman is 32, with many retired players much higher. Stringer's BMI was 40.9.

'There are reasons for concern. In the past we would focus in part on steroid use and the players' lifestyles being responsible for some of the problems but now we have to look at how we are building these guys up,' Dr Guskiewicz said.

'Since the start of the 1970s we've seen the BMI increasing at a far greater rate than that of the general population. The players have heavier bodies and their hearts are required to work harder to propel these larger frames.'

Health problems among the retirees can be self-perpetuating. Weight puts pressure on the joints, which leads to arthritis and already overweight ex-players becoming even less active, contributing to cardio-vascular disease and depression.

As Pierce Scranton, a former Seattle Seahawks doctor, told the Washington Post last year: 'We are creating a generation of super football players who will be crippled for the remainder of their life.'

Dr Guskiewicz says it will be at least a year before the study, supported by the NFL, produces definitive findings, but he wants action taken now.

'I've had inquiries from high school and collegiate level, and we need to set up screening for these kind of problems at much earlier ages,' he said.

'Then there are the 30-year-olds with three or four seasons to play who need to look at this, work with their team's nutritionists and work out the best way to prepare for retirement. If we can get the message across to the players we can make an impact.'