Bulking up risky for college gridders.

• Position: Metabolic Syndrome

College-age football players who gain weight to add power to their blocks and tackles might be setting themselves up for diabetes and heart disease later in life, suggests a study from Ohio State University, Columbus.

Nearly half of a sample of collegiate offensive and defensive linemen who underwent a battery of tests for the study had metabolic syndrome. This means the players had at least three of five risk factors that indicate a person has higher chances of developing diabetes and heart disease than those without the risk factors. Based on the results, standard health screening for these risk factors may be a good idea for all collegiate football players, according to Jackie Buell, director of sports nutrition. "The current health of the athlete is of obvious concern, but these results suggest more attention needs to be paid to preventing future health problems at the same time."

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a cluster of clinical symptoms that includes excess fat in the abdominal area (as measured by an individual's waist circumference), borderline or high blood pressure...