Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Mar;53(3):266-73.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31820af362.

The prevalence of overweight, obesity, and substandard fitness in a population-based firefighter cohort

Walker S C Poston  1 , C Keith Haddock, Sara A Jahnke, Nattinee Jitnarin, Brianne C Tuley, Stefanos N Kales
Affiliations

The prevalence of overweight, obesity, and substandard fitness in a population-based firefighter cohort

Walker S C Poston et al. J Occup Environ Med. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in firefighters.

Methods: Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and body fat percentage (BF%) were assessed in 478 career and 199 volunteer male firefighters from randomly selected departments.

Results: High prevalence rates of overweight + obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m) were found in career (79.5%; 33.5%) and volunteer firefighters (78.4%; 43.2%). False-positive obesity misclassification based on BMI, compared to waist circumference and BF%, was low (9.8% and 2.9%, respectively). False negatives were much higher: 32.9% and 13.0%. Obese firefighters demonstrated unfavorable cardiovascular disease (CVD) profiles.

Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity exceeded that of the US general population. Contrary to common wisdom, obesity was even more prevalent when assessed by BF% than by BMI, and misclassifying muscular firefighters as obese by using BMI occurred infrequently.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Unstandardized prevalence of overweight and obese combined (BMI ≥ 25) and obese only (BMI ≥ 30; WC >40 inches; and BF% > 25) in male career and volunteer firefighters. (B) Age-standardized prevalence of overweight and obese combined (BMI ≥ 25) and obese only (BMI ≥30) in male career and volunteer firefighters compared to US Adults∗.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Accuracy of BMI classification of obesity compared to BF% and WC among male career firefighters only.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Unadjusted prevalence of low fitness levels using the NFPA 1582 suggested minimal post-cardiac event exercise tolerance threshold among male career and volunteer firefighters by weight status.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. About EMS. Available at: http://www.naemt.org/become_a_member/careers/aboutems.aspx. Accessed May 16, 2010.
    1. US Fire Administration. Fire fighters statistics. http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/firefighters/index.shtm. Published April 22, 2010. Accessed May 16, 2010.
    1. International Association of Fire Fighters. The Fire Service Joint Labor Management Wellness-Fitness Initiative. Washington, DC: International Association of Fire Fighters; 2008.
    1. Donovan R, Nelson T, Peel J, Lipsey T, Voyles W, Israel RG. Cardiorespiratory fitness and the metabolic syndrome in firefighters. Occup Med (Lond) 2009;59:487–492. - PubMed
    1. National Fire Protection Association. NFPA 1582, Standards on Comprehensive Occupational Medicine Programs for Fire Departments. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association; 2006.

Publication types