Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Harvard University and the Cambridge Health Alliance recently released a report that found that more than 75% of candidates for fire and ambulance services in Massachusetts are either overweight or obese, said Dr. Stefanos Kales, the director of Occupational Medicine Residency at Harvard University's School of Public Health.

Researchers reviewed the pre-placement medical examinations of firefighter and ambulance recruits from two Massachusetts clinics between October 2004 and June 2007.  Candidates older than 35 and those who had failed their services' minimum criteria were excluded from the study to focus only on young recruits and those most likely to go on to gain employment as emergency responders, Kales said. Among the 370 recruits, only about 22% were of normal weight; 43.8% were overweight; and 33% were obese.

According to the study's results, young recruits were significantly heavier than older veteran firefighters from the 1980s and 1990s, Kales said. The researchers showed that excess weight as measured by body-mass index was associated with higher blood pressures, worse metabolic profiles and lower exercise tolerance on treadmill stress tests. "The study showed that recruits are starting their careers with excess weight, and studies show that as we all get older we exercise less and less," Kales said. "This can lead to long-term cardiovascular and other health problems that will affect recruits across their lifetime and on the job, such as heart attacks — one of the leading causes of deaths for firefighters."

The study was supported in part by grant from the Department of Homeland Security, Kales said.