Post-Exercise Milk Consumption Behavior and Health- and Performance-Related Perceptions Among Collegiate Baseball Players: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study

Background/Objectives: The relationship between nutrition-related behavior and perceptions of specific foods is unclear. We examined whether distributions of milk-related perceptions regarding heat-illness prevention and exercise performance differed according to habitual post-exercise milk consumption status. Methods: In this exploratory cross-sectional study of 49 male collegiate baseball players, participants who answered “yes” to both post-exercise milk-consumption items were classified into the Milk group (n = 24), whereas those who answered “no” to both were classified into the Non-milk group (n = 25). Primary outcomes were milk-related perceptions of heat-illness prevention and exercise performance (Negative/Neutral/Positive). Between-group response distributions were assessed, with magnitude of association quantified; sensitivity analyses used Firth-penalized logistic regression (Positive vs. Neutral/Negative). Results: For heat-illness-prevention-related perception, responses in the Milk group were Positive in 54.2%, Neutral in 45.8%, and Negative in 0.0%, compared with 12.0%, 72.0%, and 16.0%, respectively, in the Non-milk group. For performance-related perception, corresponding Positive responses were 37.5% and 8.0%, respectively. Sensitivity analyses showed associations in the same direction. Conclusions: Habitual post-exercise milk consumption was associated with a higher frequency of Positive milk-related perceptions and different overall response distributions. These findings describe a behavioral–perceptual association and do not establish that milk consumption itself improves perceptions, prevents heat illness, or enhances exercise performance.