Is the increasing popularity of competitive eating contests "feeding" into the country's propensity for weight gain and childhood obesity? Most say yes! Others, however, equate getting ready for a binge-eating contest to training for the marathon or even fine art!

"It's the same sort of person who, let's say, would train really hard and compete really hard in a marathon," said Wansink, author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think."

[IFCE Chairman George] Shea said there's no reason to be embarrassed about such events.

"Seeing these guys go at a 20 pound turkey is like poetry," he said. "It's like a dance."

We're thinking the poetry/dance simile is somehow more apt. That is, assuming that by "poetry" Shea meant "haiku to gluttony" and by "dance" he meant "8000 calorie binge."