Cornell University did a study with a mock wing eating contest to determine the relationship between social eating and overeating.

For the study published in Frontiers in Nutrition, researchers recruited college aged students of similar weight to participate in either a competitive chicken wing eating challenge with cheering spectators, or a competitive chicken wing eating challenge with no spectators. The prize for eating the most wings was a worthless plastic medal, but competitors still ate about 4 times more food than normal. Men who ate in front of spectators ate 30% more than those without spectators and described the experience as challenging, cool and exhilarating. Women, on the other hand, ate less with spectators than without them and described the experience as slightly embarrassing.

update Broadly.vice.com has information about a follow-up study:

To better understand these results, researchers conducted a follow-up study, asking 93 college students to rate male and female competitive eaters based on their perception of their intelligence, attractiveness, romance, health and strength. They were also asked to suggest how many children a (male or female) competitive eater might have by the age of 50. After analyzing the data, the study’s authors found that “women do not appear to be favorably impressed by the feats of overeating.” Men, on the other hand, “positively perceived competitive-eating males to be both stronger and having more offspring compared to female competitive eaters.”

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Contest video on St. Elmo’s facebook

Joey Chestnut has won the contest for the fourth year in a row with a record total of 15 pounds.

Official results: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Joey Chestnut responded to reader comments in this indystar.com video

Previous winners

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Observer.com has an interview with Adam Richman, who addresses Anthony Bourdain’s claim that Man vs. Food is responsible for Islamic terrorism:

Last question. I heard that Anthony Bourdain blamed you for the creation of ISIS, arguing that…Someone watches my show, and they supposedly say, “America’s a very bad place. Tomorrow I bomb it.” Tony is actually a friend of mine and I talked to him about it. I was like ‘You threw me under the bus.’ I understand the need for a good line but I hope that his want of a good friend is greater than that, and he made it clear that it was.

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Clickhole.com has a post titled “Leaving A Legacy: Barack Obama Just Became The First President Since Gerald Ford To Complete The White House Monster Burger Challenge”

Upon inauguration, all presidents are challenged by the White House executive chef to conquer the 5 pounds of ground beef featuring 20 slices of Monterey Jack cheese, avocado, and a pound of fries on the side. And on top of all that, it has to be done in under an hour with no bathroom breaks nor any help from the vice president or first lady. Success means a free T-shirt, comped bill, and a plaque on the wall of the Oval Office, but considering the sheer amount of angus beef one has to conquer, success is far from a given.

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