The overweight physician

A total of 456 male physicians, 24-84 years of age, have been studied for their coronary risk factors. Family physicians totalled 59 percent. As a group, only 12 percent of the physicians were of normal weight, 42 percent had a tendency to overweight, and five percent were considered obese. The 456 physicians were divided into two groups, 'normals and 'overweight'. When the two groups were compared it was found that the overweight physicians were more unfit (as evidenced by a lower maximum oxygen uptake), had a greater incidence of hypertension and had a greater number of abnormalities in their resting electrocardiogram. While no difference was noted between the two groups, the overall incidence of hypercholesterolemia was definitely higher than that in the Canadian population.