Rabid Fans Have Bad Diets

Sports fanatics less healthy than non-fans, study finds
By Sarah Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 14, 2008 4:46 PM CST
Rabid Fans Have Bad Diets
A dog named Packer, wearing a cheesehead and a Packers jersey, is seen outside Lambeau Field before a game.   (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

This just in: Sports fanatics like beer and fatty food. A University of Arkansas study has found that rabid fans are less healthy than people who don't care about sports, the Los Angeles Times reports. And the bigger the fanatic, "the more likely they are to consume more alcoholic beverages on the days that they choose to drink," the study's author says.

But despite fans' higher body mass index and bad diet, researchers see reason for optimism. Sports fans tend to be big spenders—on tickets, gear, travel—and that makes them "a perfect segment to which health prevention marketing efforts can be directed," a sports management professor says.
(More sports fans stories.)

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