The aim of the present study was to identify when body mass index (BMI) is unlikely to be a valid measure of adiposity in athletic populations and to propose a simple adjustment that will allow the BMI of athletes to reflect the adiposity normally associated with non-athletic populations. Using data from three previously published studies containing 236 athletes from seven sports and 293 age-matched controls, the association between adiposity (sum of 4 skinfold thicknesses, in millimetres) and BMI was explored using correlation, linear regression, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). As anticipated, there were strong positive correlations (r = 0.83 for both men and women) and slope parameters between adiposity and BMI in age-matched controls from Study 1 (all P < 0.001). The standard of sport participation reduced these associations. Of the correlations and linear-regression slope parameters between adiposity and BMI in the sports from Studies 2 and 3, although still positive in most groups, less than half of the correlations and slope parameters were statistically significant. When data from the three studies were combined, the ANCOVA identified that the BMI slope parameter of controls (5.81 mm (kg m(-2))(-1)) was greater than the BMI slope parameter for sports (2.62 mm (kg m(-2))(-1)) and middle-distance runners (0.94 mm (kg m(-2))(-1)) (P < 0.001). Based on these contrasting associations, we calculated how the BMI of athletes can be adjusted to reflect the same adiposity associated with age-matched controls. This simple adjustment allows the BMI of athletes and non-athletes to be used with greater confidence when investigating the effect of BMI as a risk factor in epidemiological research.

Football coaches and sports scientists are always seeking to identify key characteristics that can distinguish between successful and less successful footballers and teams. The purpose of the present article was to identify whether any body size, shape, and age characteristics might be associated with more successful professional footballers and whether any such characteristics might have changed over time. We found that despite a significant increase in professional footballers' height, body mass, and body mass index (BMI) from 1973-74 to 2003-04, no differences in the body shape parameter, reciprocal ponderal index (RPI) or age were identified. Goalkeepers, central defenders, and central strikers were found to be taller (P < 0.001), heavier (P < 0.001), and older (P < 0.001) than players playing in wider positions, but midfielders and wider players were found to have both lower BMI and RPI than central players. However, when players from successful teams (top six) were compared with less successful teams using binary logistic regression, players from successful teams were found to be taller and more linear (as identified by a greater RPI and ectomorphy score; both P < 0.05) and also younger (P < 0.05), a trend that appears to have increased in the most recent season studied, 2003-2004, a characteristic that is most marked among forwards (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these results suggest that football coaches and talent scouts should pay attention to the body shape (selecting taller/more linear athletes with a high RPI) when selecting potential players for their squads.

The aims of this study were to identify whether relative shape and size characteristics of world-class sprinters have changed over time, and whether any anthropometric parameters characterize the most successful world-class sprinters. The results suggest that body mass index, reflecting greater muscle mass rather than greater adiposity, is an important factor associated with success in both male and female world-class sprinters over time. However, in female athletes the reciprocal ponderal index (RPI) has emerged as a more important indicator of success over several decades, with taller, more linear sprinters achieving greater success, as measured by sprint speed. In male sprinters it is only in the most recent decade that RPI has emerged as an important predictor of success. We speculate that the prominence of the RPI and an ectomophic somatotype being typical of the most successful world-class sprinters might be explained, in part, by the influence of stride length on sprint speed. In conclusion, these results suggest that coaches, selectors, and sports scientists should consider body shape when selecting potential athletes for sprint events, encouraging more linear athletes with a high RPI.

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Pharmacology is taught on a dedicated module for nurse prescribers who have a limited physical science background. To facilitate learning a problem-based approach was adopted. However, to enhance students' knowledge of drug action a PharmaCALogy software package from the British Pharmacological Society was used. Students were alternately given a lecture or encountered the software as a prelude to a short test a week later. The process was repeated with their roles reversed, followed by use of a questionnaire to evaluate user experience. Generally students receiving the lecture first performed better on the test but after experiencing both forms of learning there was little difference in performance. Response was positive with regard to the software especially the aspect of visualising drug interactions. However, lack of prior knowledge and paucity of time on task were seen as negative features. The responses indicate measures that may improve the student experience by taking greater note of learning styles and existing IT skills.