Understanding High School Football Players' Weight-Gaining Behaviors: An Application of the Integrated Behavioral Model

High school football players are often encouraged to gain weight to improve performance on the field. Unfortunately, many of the behaviors in which they engage to gain weight are unhealthy in nature and can lead to pre-metabolic syndrome (i.e., a cluster of symptoms such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a high concentration of abdominal fat), which can result in diabetes and heart disease later in life. The integrated behavioral model (IBM), which is useful in understanding knowledge, attitudes, and norms about health behaviors, is used as a guiding model for analyzing qualitative interviews (N = 22) with former male high school football players who reported purposefully attempting to gain weight during high school.  We report on three specific themes regarding weight gain behaviors in this population: a) normative beliefs regarding weight gain for improved athletic performance, b) salience of the behavior during high school which can lead to unhealthy habits, and c) attitudes regarding the importance of weight gain to achieve athletic goals. These findings have important implications for these young men’s health during, and long after, high school.  Because of this, we discuss the implications from this study within the IBM framework, pointing to the need to a) continue to study this behavior more in depth, b) develop health communication interventions targeted toward football players, especially specific football positions (i.e., offensive linemen), and c) bring increased awareness to parents and coaching staff about the implications of encouraging weight gain for the players.