Reducing body mass to achieve a lower weight category for performance advantages is a long-standing tradition in wrestling (1). The practice can be extreme and methods to do so, unsafe (1,2). To help thwart unhealthy manipulations, body composition assessment was proposed more than 50 years ago by the late Charles Tipton, PhD, for determining an objective, safe weight category for adolescent wrestlers (3,4). By the late 1980s, one U.S. state high-school sport governing body (SGB) had mandated a minimum weight program for adolescent male wrestlers (5,6). In 1998, the National Collegiate Athletic Association adopted a minimum weight program after the deaths of three male wrestlers who succumbed to hyperthermia while making weight (7,8). Subsequently, the National Federation for High School advised all U.S. states to adopt programs for interscholastic wrestling. As a component of the programs, the minimum weight class could not be less than a weight at which adolescent wrestlers carry 7% body fat (1,9,10) or for collegiate male wrestlers, 5% body fat (1,10). Shortly after implementation of these programs for men, wrestling was introduced as a competitive sport for women. Guidance was needed for their weight-class selection. SGBs leveraged recommendations from sports medicine experts and set the minimum at 12% body fat (1,9,10). The physiological basis for this was that extreme leanness or the pursuit of leanness required a large negative energy balance that would induce nutrient deficiencies, disrupt the reproductive endocrine system, lower reduce estrogen levels, and do harm to bone and other tissues (2,11). Female participation in wrestling has grown in the United States and internationally, but justification for the 12% cutoff remains absent. The minimum is often interpreted as ideal and achievable regardless of whether it is reasonable or safe. In addition, the potential for coercion from coaches or teammates exists when the team attempts to complete the lineup for competition, and the body-composition test indicates that a team member can fill a specific weight class at 12% body fat (2). At that point, 12% body fat may result in an unhealthy minimum weight. This commentary examines available data on female wrestlers to determine the likelihood that 12% body fat occurs among female wrestlers. We believe that 12% body fat is unlikely and rare and that the minimum should be reconsidered for safety among female wrestlers. This does not mean prohibiting a female wrestler from competing at 12% body fat if naturally occurring. Rather, SGBs should consider raising the minimum body fat for the safety of female wrestlers who are considering weight reduction.
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