Eating habits change in college, that is an indisputable fact. This fact reigns especially true with collegiate women. The monumental change of entering a new environment brings excitement, but also mounting stress. Much of that stress is a result of not only academic, but social pressure. Linked to those social acitvities is the commonplace activity of drinking alcohol in excess. Pairing binge drinking with the anxiety of peers’ perceptions of your personality and appearance makes for a dangerous situation.
Maintaining the standard of “skinny” or “hot” while simultaneously being social is leading many women to cut corners where they should not. All too often, the effects of this culture lead young, vulnerable students to resort to destructive habits. One of the increasingly popular behavioral trends is entitled “drunkorexia,” which entails restricting one’s diet in order to “save” calories for alcohol. Health begins to sit on a back-burner while outward appeal takes precedence in behavioral ideals.
The major goals of drunkorexia are to reserve calories for alcoholic beverages, while also expediting the process of intoxication past normal rates.
According to health professionals, this behavior has more long-term health effects than people realize. Avoiding food consumption prior to and during a period of heavy alcohol intake can be damaging regardless of personal intentions. Depriving the body of nutrients will induce short-term effects of lost focus and lathargy, while more serious long-term effects can be felt through repeated abuse. These habitual drunkorexic tactics can wreak gastritis, ulcers and malnutrition on the body in addition to the obvious mental detriments. Additionally, normalizing these behaviors can desensitize more intense disordered eating as well as other substance use and abuse issues.
The insecurity felt by female students is only further exploited and worsened by the alcohol industry. Advertisements and brands are centered around preying on the low self-esteem levels of young women. The “Skinny Girl” brand, for example, was started by uber-thin real housewife, Bethenny Frankel. The name alone can be detrimental to body empowerment. The term “skinny” glamorizes an unhealthy lack of muscle, or essentially anything aside from skin’s solitary presence on the body.
Though it may seem more important to look good in a crop top and spend less money on alcohol purchases, health (both mental and physical) is far more important for the current and future bodily state.