Associations between body fat percentage and fitness among police officers: a statewide study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Andrew, Michael E. ; Burchfiel CM ; Charles LE ; Fekedulegn D ; Gu JK ; Hartley TA ; Ma CC ; Violanti JM
• Description:
  Background: Police work is generally sedentary though there may be situations that require physical endurance and strength, such as foot chases and arresting suspects. Factors such as excessive body fat can impede the officer's physical ability to deal with such occurrences. Our objective was to examine associations between officer's body fat percentage (BF%) and performance on a standardized fitness protocol. Methods: Data were obtained from fitness screening among 1,826 male and 115 female officers in a large U.S. police agency. The screening consisted of a 1.5-mile-run, push-ups, sit-ups, and sit-and reach test. Gender-specific body fat percentages were estimated from skinfold thickness measured using calipers. Linear regression models were used to examine unadjusted and adjusted mean scores of fitness tests across BF% tertiles. Results: The prevalence of overall fitness was 4.3 times greater in male officers and 3.6 times greater in female officers having the lowest BF% tertile compared with the highest tertile (30.3% vs 7.1% and 46.0% vs 12.8%, respectively). BF% was linearly and positively associated with the time of 1.5-mile-run (p<0.001), and linearly and inversely associated with the number of push-ups (p<0.001), sit-ups (p<0.001), and the distance of sit-and-reach (p<0.001) in men. Similar associations were observed in women with the exception of sit-and-reach (p=0.122). Associations were independent of age, race/ethnicity, rank, and duty station. Conclusion: Overall, BF% was inversely associated with fitness levels in male and female officers. Future longitudinal studies should be initiated to explore the potentially causal relationship between BF% and fitness in law enforcement officers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Body Weight Law Enforcement Occupational Health Safety Sex Characteristics
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Body Fat BCOPS BMI Body Mass Index Body Weight Fitness Gender Gender Factors Law Enforcement Obesity Physical Fitness Police Police Officers

  More +
• ISSN:
  2093-7911
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  36-41
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048506
• Citation:
  Saf Health Work 2017 Mar; 8(1):36-41
• Contact Point Address:
  John M. Violanti, PhD. Department of Epidemiology & Environmental Health, 270 Farber Hall, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, 14214, USA
• Email:
  violanti@buffalo.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  State University of New York at Buffalo
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20150901
• Source Full Name:
  Safety and Health at Work
• End Date:
  20190831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b0b5344a2d745b5496507d927f922cc040190b2e00122830aef9143968fa85c24a760bb3f2bf3c2bed3b9f1229af2bb9716d78f88c691a7a5f55bb9be1a9125a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203249/cdc_203249_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 224.60 KB ]