Violanti John M, Ma Claudia C, Fekedulegn Desta, Andrew Michael E, Gu Ja K, Hartley Tara A, Charles Luenda E, Burchfiel Cecil M
Department of Epidemiology & Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV, USA.
Saf Health Work. 2017 Mar;8(1):36-41. doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2016.07.004. Epub 2016 Aug 3.
Police work is generally sedentary although 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 an officer's physical ability to deal with such occurrences. Our objective was to examine associations between officers' body fat percentage (BF%) and performance on a standardized fitness protocol.
Data were obtained from fitness screening among 1,826 male and 115 female officers in a large US police agency. The screening consisted of a 2.4-km run, push-ups, sit-ups, and sit-and-reach test. Sex-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.
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 2.4-km run ( 0.001), and linearly and inversely associated with the number of push-ups ( 0.001), sit-ups ( 0.001), and the distance of sit-and-reach ( 0.001) in men. Similar associations were observed in women with the exception of sit-and-reach ( = 0.122). Associations were independent of age, race/ethnicity, rank, and duty station.
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.
警察工作通常久坐不动，不过可能存在需要身体耐力和力量的情况，比如徒步追捕和逮捕嫌疑人。过多的体脂等因素会妨碍警察应对此类情况的身体能力。我们的目的是研究警察的体脂百分比（BF%）与标准化体能测试成绩之间的关联。
数据来自美国一家大型警察机构对1826名男性和115名女性警察的体能筛查。筛查包括2.4公里跑步、俯卧撑、仰卧起坐和坐位体前屈测试。通过用卡尺测量皮褶厚度来估算特定性别的体脂百分比。使用线性回归模型来检验BF%三分位数组中体能测试的未调整和调整后的平均分数。
与BF%最高三分位数组相比，BF%最低三分位数组的男性警察总体体能达标率高4.3倍，女性警察高3.6倍（分别为30.3%对7.1%和46.0%对12.8%）。在男性中，BF%与2.4公里跑步时间呈线性正相关（P<0.001），与俯卧撑数量（P<0.001）、仰卧起坐数量（P<0.001）以及坐位体前屈距离（P<0.001）呈线性负相关。在女性中观察到类似的关联，但坐位体前屈除外（P = 0.122）。这些关联独立于年龄、种族/民族、警衔和工作岗位。
总体而言，BF%与男性和女性警察的体能水平呈负相关。未来应开展纵向研究，以探索BF%与执法人员体能之间潜在的因果关系。
