Note to the competitors in the Nathans Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest: the American Medical Association, officially, does not approve.

In addition to resolutions backing the individual mandate to purchase health insurance and to adopt a bill of rights for medical residents, delegates to the AMAs annual meeting have approved a resolution recognizing competitive speed eating as an unhealthy eating practice with potential adverse consequences.

Admittedly, theres not a whole lot of published research on this topic. One study published a few years back in the Journal of Roentgenology looked at the stomach of a competitive eater and found that it expanded to form an enormous flaccid sac capable of accommodating huge amounts of food. The authors speculated that professional speed eaters may eventually develop morbid obesity, an inability to empty the stomach and intractable nausea and vomiting. But theres no published report of this actually happening to speed eaters.

As this 2006 piece from Gastroenterology & Endoscopy notes (reg. required), some physicians believe competitive eaters may suffer some of the same health consequences as binge eaters, including tooth-enamel erosion and irritable bowel syndrome. (Though again, we couldnt find a published report of this happening in speed eaters.)

Meantime, a study of middle-aged Japanese men and women, published in 2008, found that faster (though non-competitive) eaters were more likely to develop insulin resistance than those who lingered over their meal.

The background information given to the AMAs voting delegates said that speed eating condones excessive consumption, junk food consumption and a waste of resources that could be used to fight hunger. (That background info doesnt become official policy and wasnt voted upon.)

We reached out to a representative of Major League Eating, which oversees all professional eating contests, including the July 4 Nathans face-off, and will tell you if we hear back.

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