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Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A study from the University of Florida has found that overeating during national sporting events, like the Super Bowl, increases a person's risk of needing emergency medical treatment. Researchers found that people who overeat during national holidays and national sporting events are 10 times more likely to seek emergency medical treatment for food obstruction than at any other time during the year.
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The study examined 11 years of data from the emergency room at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston and found that from 2001 to 2012, 38 people received emergency procedures to their esophagus within three days of a holiday or sporting event. Roughly 37 percent of those were due to food impaction or blockages.
Of the 81 individuals who had the same procedure two weeks before or after a sporting event, considered the control group, less than 4 percent were due to food impaction.
"Though the sample size was small, it's clear that a pattern emerged showing a higher percentage of people seeking treatment during or just after the holiday or event," Dr. Asim Shuja, a gastroenterologist at the University of Florida Health Jacksonville and lead author of the study, said in a press release. "And a much greater percentage during those times needed help because food was impacted in their esophagus. It's a very serious problem that people need to be aware of."
Shuja and his team found that men were primarily effected and most cases came during or just after Thanksgiving, but that New Year's Day and the Superbowl were also linked to a higher incidence of cases.
Alcohol, serving size and how fast people ate were considered possible risk factors.
"We think the main message here is for people to be aware and not to, for lack of a better term, overindulge," Shuja said. "Not only the amount of food you're eating during the holiday or event, but the size of the portion you're eating can have a tremendous impact."
The study was published in Gastroenterology Report.
