Does Exercise Performance Differ Among Male Law Enforcement Officers Based on Their Body Mass Index Category?

Objectives:
To assess differences in exercise performance among law enforcement officers
(LEOs) based on body mass index (BMI).

Methods:
Five hundred and thirty-two male LEOs (n = 532; age 38.9 ± 7.4 yrs; height: 180.1 ± 6.9 cm; body mass: 92.1 ± 15.1 kg) were analyzed. The LEOs were stratified into three BMI groups: “healthy” (18.5–24.9 kg/m2), “overweight” (25.0–29.9 kg/m2), and “obese” (≥30.0 kg/m2). Tests for push-ups, sit-ups, estimated VO2max, vertical jump (VJ), and peak anaerobic power output (PAPw) were conducted. Non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis H and Quade’s rank-based ANCOVA with age
as a covariate test were used to evaluate differences in exercise performance between BMI
groups. Mann–Whitney U tests with Bonferroni post hoc corrections were used for pairwise
comparisons. Effect sizes were calculated as rank eta squared (ηH2) for the Kruskal–
Wallis H test results.

Results:
Differences were noted across BMI groups for the push-ups
(p < 0.001, ηH2 = 0.101), sit-ups (p < 0.001, ηH2 = 0.187), VO2max (p < 0.001, ηH2 = 0.145),
VJ (p < 0.001, ηH2 = 0.137), and PAPw (p < 0.001, ηH2 = 0.504). The pairwise comparisons
revealed differences between each group, with the obese and overweight groups exhibiting
a lower VJ, VO2max, and performance in push-ups and sit-ups while having a higher PAPw
than the healthy group, even after adjusting for age.

Conclusions:
These data demonstrate that a higher BMI is associated with poorer exercise performance, except for PAPw, and highlight the importance of maintaining a healthy BMI in LEOs.