Gaining the “freshman 15” can be found at the top of every college woman’s list of things to avoid. Weight gain in college is often associated with increase of alcohol intake. Lately, women have been taking extreme measures to avoid this weight gain, while still being able to enjoy a night of cocktails.
Limiting food intake as a means to get drunk has been a trend among college women for many years. However, concerns about the trend have increased lately with a term used to describe the extreme of this trend: ‘drunkorexia.’
Drunkorexia is a non-medical term used to describe a new kind of eating disorder. The term reflects a behavior in which college women go without eating so they can binge drink without gaining weight. Women will starve themselves during the day to make up for the calories to be consumed later through drinking.
The Denver Post quotes a study published by the International Journal of Eating Disorders that found a connection between binge drinking and eating disorders. It said there is a “crucial need for early interventions targeting binge drinking among college-age women regardless of
their drinking status.”
This alarming trend is sweeping through Illinois as well as other universities. One University of Illinois student said, “I see it all the time. I have friends that will skip meals if they know they’re going out that night. It’s mostly because they want to get drunk without having to drink a lot.”
These behaviors can be very dangerous for college women. An article published by the McKinley Health Center says that the effects of alcohol coupled with the malabsorption of nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are normally consumed by eating can lead to liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, sexual dysfunction and more.
Another University of Illinois student said she has seen friends take this so-called eating disorder to the next level.
“I have a friend who won’t eat before going out, but then eats when she gets home and usually makes herself throw up afterward. She says she does it because she feels sick, not because of the calories,” she said.
The University of Illinois Counseling Center published a checklist of some symptoms of eating disorders, such as Anorexia and Bulimia. The list includes “temporary fasting in order to compensate for food eaten,” “routinely restricting calorie or food intake for the primary purpose of feeling more in control” and “self-induced vomiting.”
Although ‘drunkorexia’ is not the same as Anorexia or Bulimia, college women are practicing some of the unhealthy symptoms associated with them while mixing it with the unhealthy habit of binge drinking.
Counselors suggest maintaining a balanced diet and eating a meal before drinking.