‘Drunkorexia’ student fears

By Sam | Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:38 | 1 comments

Study shows drunkorexia can damage long-term health

Students are cutting calories during the day so they can binge drink at night, leaving them open to long-term health problems, new research suggests.

Results from a study at the University of Missouri found that as many as one in five students save their calories for alcohol, an eating and drinking disorder dubbed 'drunkorexia.'

Motivations to be drunkorexic included getting drunk faster, spending money on alcohol that might otherwise be spent on food and keeping weight down, students in the study said.

"Apart from each other, depriving the brain of adequate nutrition and consuming large amounts of alcohol can be dangerous," said Dr Victoria Osborne of the University of Missouri.

"Together, they can cause short- and long-term cognitive problems including difficulty concentrating, studying and making decisions."

People who participate in disordered eating combined with binge drinking are also more at risk for violence, risky sexual behaviour, alcohol poisoning, substance abuse and chronic diseases later in life.

Women are more likely to be drunkorexics than men meaning they are at a higher risk for health problems related to binge drinking because they metabolize alcohol faster than men.

Drunkorexia is also occurring in young men but only 11 percent of males surveyed admitted to be drunkorexics compared to 25 percent of women.