Most Criminals are Physically Fit!
Uh-oh - I guess Empowher might be attracting the wrong crowd!
File this under News of the Weird but a study has shown that most criminals are in great shape!
5,000 inmates from a prison in Arkansas were analyzed for their health and fitness levels and the majority were shown to be physically fit upon entry into prison. These fit inmates are known as 'mesomorphs'. Calling them 'in good shape' doesn't just mean they were not overweight. The overweight inmates are 'endomorphs' and the skinny crowd are 'ectomorphs'. They were in the minority. The really healthy and fit inmates were heavily in the majority - from 62%-74%!
That's one fit inmate population!
Why? And how?
""...that does not mean that being fit is a predictor of criminal tendencies, said one of the authors, Jeffery T. Walker of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
“Those who are fit may have personalities that are more likely to make them violent,” Dr. Walker said in an e-mail message.
“In essence,” Dr. Walker said, “what drives them to be fit also drives them to be violent. It is also likely that those who are fit find themselves in violent situations more.”" SOURCE http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/health/nutrition/17exer.html?ref=health
It's a shame these inmates didn't turn these good physical traits into something more positive. And now that I think about it, when I see documentaries about prisons, the inmates do seem to look pretty good and use the workout areas a lot. Maybe some do it from boredom but many seem to be simply into fitness.
Things that make you go hmmm.
Tell Us
Have you noticed this too? Have you noticed some other interesting physical or medical attributes amongst a certain group?
Comments
That story is fascinating. And yes, the inmates do look pretty fit now that I think about it ... I also remember hearing something about the criminal karyotype at one point where it was believed that many criminals had an extra Y chromosome which made them sterile, but also made those males more aggressive. Don't think that turned out to be true after a little more research was done, but appreciate someone trying to understand the mind (or makeup) of criminals in a little deeper context.
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