Body Mass Index and Measures of Body Fat for Defining Obesity and Underweight: A Cross-Sectional Study of Various Specialties in Montenegrin Police Force

Abstract

The Police force personnel cover an exceptionally wide range of different activities, so it is logical that this heterochronic group has different abilities and characteristics, including daily needs, while changes in body composition and decrease in physical abilities represent a modern issue that has not bypassed this population either. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the indicators of the body composition of the Police force personnel, as well as possible differences that might occur in relation to different specialized police units. The subjects of this Cross Sectional study included 115 active-duty male members of the Police force (31.54 ± 10.5 year-old), divided into four groups, belonging to different specialized units. The sample of variables included five anthropometric measures (body height, body weight, abdominal skinfold, pectoral skinfold and front thigh skinfold) by which two body composition indicators -body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (FAT %) were calculated. The variables were analysed by using the one-way ANOVA and LSD Post Hoc test. It has been determined that there are differences in body composition indicators between the members of different specialized units of the Police force, while overweight was noted among the members of the two subpopulations. This fact indicates that members of certain specialized units of the Montenegrin Police force have adverse nutritional status and the situation may be described as alarming, which may lead to decrease in their physical fitness and effectiveness in service.

Perfil de Composición Corporal en Militares Élite Chilenos

“…Una reciente revisión de la literatura (Farina et al, 2021) reveló que la composición corporal es un predictor del rendimiento físico que puede ser modificado, de esta manera; y es así que una buena composición corporal permite una mejor preparación para las exigencias de los cursos militares que requieren de altas demandas físicas. Al comparar la talla de soldados de distintos ejércitos se aprecia que los soldados serbios (180,2 cm), finlandeses (180,0 cm) y montenegrinos (181,7 cm) serían los más altos, mientras que los canadienses (178,0 cm), los belgas (177,5 cm), los estadounidenses (176,0 cm) y los turcos (173,0 cm) son los más bajos (Spalevic et al, 2021). Los resultados de nuestra investigación muestran a los soldados chilenos con una talla promedio de 178,0 cm, un valor similar a lo que presentan los canadienses o los belgas y mayor que la observada en estadounidenses o turcos.…”

Association between Diet, Physical Activity and Nutritional Status of Male Border Guard Officers

“…Out of 67% of the officers classified with BMI higher than 25 kg/m 2 , excessive fat mass (based on FMI) was found only in less than half of them (42%). It is strongly recommended to be particularly careful when interpreting BMI values in adults with increased physical activity [51]. Moreover, some authors recommend that the optimal cut off point for interpreting obesity in active duty service members is BMI of 29 kg/m 2 in men and BMI of 26 kg/m 2 in women [52].…”