Laboratory Height And Weight Measurments In Collegiate American Football Players Compared To Athletic Program Measurements

Abstract

Actual body weight and height for college athletes may be different than the weights and heights listed in an athletic program and/or media guides. Often heights and weights will be higher, than actual values, as an intimidation factor. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of laboratory body weight and height measurements in collegiate American football players to the height and weight measurements listed in the University football media guide. METHODS: Height (m) and weight (Kg) were measured by using a wall-mounted standiometer and body mass was measured using an electronic scale (Tanita BF-350, Arlington Heights, Illinois). These measurements were then compared to the height and weight listed in the University football media guide. Participants were 89 collegiate football players age 19.6 (1.4) years. Positions played by the participants varied between linemen (35) and non-linemen (54). An independent samples t-test was performed using SPSS (v.22) to analyze the difference between height and weight between the two sources. RESULTS: Laboratory height measurements 1.85 (.06) m and program height measurements 1.84 (.06) m were significantly different [t(88) = 5.803, p<.001]. Laboratory weight measurements 104.30 (17.64) kg and program weight measurements 104.95 (18.03) kg were significantly different [t(88) = -2.134, p=.036]. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the laboratory measurements of both height and weight were found to be significantly different than the height and weight measurements found in the University football media guide. Also, the University game day program weight measurements were higher than the laboratory weight measurements, as was expected. However, the University game day program height measurements were lower than the height measurements in the laboratory, which was unexpected. Therefore, this study suggests that accurate measurements are not always displayed in athletic programs and/or media guides.