A competitive eating craze driven by consumers of social media is luring a new generation of professional eaters eager to win followers and cash prizes.

Key points: Nick Gentizon recently won a competitive eating even in Sydney by consuming 1.8kg of sushi in two minutes and 20 seconds.

Nick Gentizon recently won a competitive eating even in Sydney by consuming 1.8kg of sushi in two minutes and 20 seconds. A doctor has warned that there are significant health risks from competitive eating, including numerous accounts of people dying

A doctor has warned that there are significant health risks from competitive eating, including numerous accounts of people dying The president of Competitive Eaters Australia — which sanctions events around Australia — says the sport has grown significantly since it started about 10 years ago

But a medical professional has expressed concern about the practice of extreme eating, saying health outcomes can range from "bad, to very bad" — and could include death.

Newcastle student Nic Gentizon recently stepped into the world of competitive eating after friends on social media directed him towards a Sydney event.

The 1.8kg sushi eating event, held in the Sydney suburb of Kingsford, was sanctioned by Competitive Eating Australia, attracting five of Australia's top 20 ranked eaters.

Nic Gentizon entered and won a competitive eating challenge in Sydney after he was told he 'should have a crack'. ( ABC Newcastle: Anthony Scully )

"I saw there was a pro division, and an amateur division, and I always thought, 'I may as well have a crack at the pros'," Mr Gentizon said.

"The prize money was higher too, so I thought I'd have a stab at that."

Mr Gentizon won the event, beating Australian number two Jesse 'Food Coma' Freeman, by consuming 1.8kg of sushi in two minutes and 20 seconds.

He is now on course for his next sanctioned event in Sydney's Homebush, as part of a sold-out 'music and barbecue festival' called MeatStock.

The challenge, on May 8, is offering a $1,000 prize for the winner of a speed-eating challenge involving sausages and bread.

Risks include stomach perforation, fatal water intoxication

Dr Lee Fong, a member of the Hunter Association of GPs and a senior clinical director of Hunter Primary Care, said the risks of competitive eating were not insignificant.

"For professional eaters, often they're training to distend their stomachs, and they're using lots of water to do that," Dr Fong said.

"That could lead to potentially fatal water intoxication."

Jesse Freeman is Australia's second-ranked competitive eater. ( Supplied: Instagram.com/jessefreeman )

Repeated over-stretching of the stomach could lead to a condition "gastroparesis, which can, in turn, lead to chronic nausea and vomiting".

For the casual competitive eater, the outcomes were even worse, according to Dr Fong.

"If we have a look at the weekend food warriors … I think we have greater risks," he said.

Dr Lee Fong says there have been numerous accounts of people dying in competitive eating competitions. ( Supplied: Dr Lee Fong )

"You're distending the stomach … and if your stomach is not used to it, then I think you've got a greater risk of perforation.

"Especially if, for example, you've already got an area of your stomach that's weak because, you've got an undiagnosed stomach ulcer.

"Another thing that can happen, especially if you're not used to it, if you eat a lot, you might vomit.

"If you vomit you risk tearing your oesophagus or your food pipe."

Another risk associated with vomiting is 'aspirating', where it is possible for a person to "suck back your vomitus into your airway, which can be a potentially fatal thing".

"It just doesn't seem like it's worth dying for, and there's been numerous accounts of people dying in these sorts of competitions," Dr Fong said.

Mr Gentizon said participants were informed by organisers about the risks of competitive eating before competing in sanctioned competitions, signing waivers acknowledging those risks which include choking which Dr Fong said was the leading cause of death from competitive eating in cases cited in medical literature.

Top Australian eater has 190,000 Insta-followers

Australia's number one competitive eater Cal Stubbs aka @HulkSmashFood has almost 190,000 followers on Instagram. ( Supplied: Instagram.com/compeating )

Billy Boyd, the president of Competitive Eaters Australia — which sanctions events around Australia and maintains a league ladder — said the sport had grown "significantly" since it started about 10 years ago.

The president of Competitive Eaters Australia Billy Boyd says the sport has grown significantly since it started about 10 years ago. ( Supplied: CompetitiveEating.com.au )

"In terms of the sport internationally, there's a league in the US, and there's a league in Asia as well, and Japan," Mr Boyd said.

"We've been involved in competitions where we've had countries come together to compete against each other."

Jamie 'Lemon Blossom' Miller, who had recently retired, represented Australia in New York in 2015.

The sport has even been around long enough to have 'veterans'.

"HulkSmashFood [Cal Stubbs] has been in the game now for a number of years," Mr Boyd said.

"He's got a following of 180,000 Instagram followers.

"It's certainly a vehicle to get their own promotion out as well, and they have a lot of fun doing it."

Mr Boyd said there were risks involved and competitors were briefed "quite strongly" before competitions, particularly those who had never competed before.

"The majority are there for a bit of fun and in all credit to them they treat it that way," Mr Boyd said.

"The pros regularly visit their GPs to get their check ups and are well aware of the risks around water loading.

"They know that you should never drink more than a litre of water at a time because you may die."

Assembling a team to chase a viral video dream

Cameron Utiger and Nic Gentizon started a YouTube channel to chase social media followers. ( ABC Newcastle: Anthony Scully )

With the potential to garner social media followers and earn prize money, Nic Gentizon started a You Tube channel — with the help of a friend Cameron Utiger — to document his eating.

"Cameron's great, he's amazing," Mr Gentizon said.

"All I do is eat. Cameron's the master behind all the videoing and whatnot. But yeah, social media's very key to get yourself out there.

Although the videos had only attracted views in the hundreds as this stage, the goal was to create something to go viral.

Competitors in the Dirty Dog Hot Dog Eating Competition at Mooloolaba in April, included Chad 'Fro-Man' Jones, third from left, who is ranked number 8 in Australia. ( Supplied: Instagram.com/compeating )

"Cameron's working hard to get one of those, [that] a fair few people want to see," he said.

Mr Gentizon's mother Gabrielle said the competitive eating "doesn't really impress me too much, and I don't know a lot about it".

"Often, I'm the last to know through someone who says, 'Oh Gab, I've just seen your son on social media'," she said.

She said her son, who worked out at a gym and was studying to be a physiotherapist, "has always been a fast eater".

"He's always had a big appetite, although in recent years he's increasingly eaten me out of house and home," Ms Gentizon said.

"When it's your son, sometimes you think there are probably higher aspirations in life, than being a glutton, and eating and winning contests.

"But each to their own, and if that's what his desire in life is to achieve, well and good. I'll support him."