Drunkorexia is the newest fad in drinking habits among college students, particularly women. I actually put together a program and bulletin board for the RAs last year to educate the students about the concept. Drunkorexia is a new slang term that describes the practice of restricting food intake in order to drink more alcohol. It’s a result of constant pressure for young people to be thin. The term describes a fad that is a combination of symptoms of alcoholism, bulimia, and anorexia.
In order to compensate for the calories found in alcohol consumed during the evening, students may exhibit the following behaviors: Eating little to no food during the day, eating very low calorie foods, and drinking low/no calorie drinks during the day. Students may refrain from or limit food on any day they intend to drink excessively and then consume “drunk food” (non-nutritious food that is readily available) during or after drinking. They follow up the binging by intentionally ridding their body of the food consumed after drinking through purging and may later claim that it wasn’t intentional, but a result of the alcohol consumption. They’ll use phrases like, “I was just too drunk,” or “I drank too much!” There are several dangers of “Drunkorexia.” The strategies are very similar to eating disorders and may lead to the development of even more serious eating disorder behaviors. Young adults between ages 15 and 24 are 12 times more likely to die from eating disorders than other ages. Students may also develop symptoms of alcoholism. Drinking on an empty stomach also means the alcohol effects the body much quicker and is much more dangerous. Rapid intoxication from drinking on an empty stomach without food to absorb alcohol means the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) rises quickly and increases the risk of alcohol poisoning.
The concept of Drunkorexia is important as it shows us that students are concerned with body image but are not willing to give up the party scene. Sometimes universities unintentionally put these pressures on students as well. Last year, one of the dining halls on campus had a bulletin board that said “Is your salad making you fat?” While the person who put that up had good intentions about educating students about their food intake, portions, and nutrition, they may have caused more damage than good. The contradictory message also happens in places like a Campus Recreation Center offering free body mass index tests and offering a free diet analysis or advice during Eating Disorders Awareness Week. It’s crucial as student affairs professionals to be aware of the way we present programs, the phrasing we use, and the types of advertisements we allow to be posted. I’m sure we all know the obvious things not to say and do regarding these issues, but it’s important to be sensitive to these struggles in our student population.
My design class "re-engineered" a student's weekly food intake this semester. I had serious concerns regarding the stress this might cause certain individuals, so I encouraged my co-instructors to allow students to present information about any aspect of their food intake or even the food intake of another willing student. It has been a challenge to simultaneously focus our program on food sustainability without heading down the slippery slope of food disorder concerns.
ReplyDeleteKelsi, thank you for this post. While I know this is something college students do, I did not know this was a new fad, nor did I know there was an actual name for this type of behavior. There have been many reports on the number of college woman who suffer from eating disorders, but I am not sure to what extent researchers have studied drinking binges in combination with eating disorders. It seems to me that this could be a lethal combination.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like we have been fighting eating disorders since the 80's and yet we still have young women growing up and comparing themselves to super models and other images that are not representative of the true female body. Recently, I was shown a picture of the new Strawberry Shortcake. The newly designed Shortcake was thinner and more barbie like. It really surprised me that as a society we continue to move in this direction, yet we know the issues females are facing with eating disorders.
This is a really upsetting posting. I am glad it was brought to my attention, for I had no idea this was the newest fad on campus. I have a daughter who is about to embark on the wonderful world of middle school, and I am terrified of her innocence leaving her. But by adding this to the mix is even worse. I see the issues that this leads to the troubles of binge drinking which is already a major concern on campuses across the country, but to compile that with eating disorders as well and combine the two is a double-edged sword. My concern is past the eating disorder and long term effects of drunkorexia, but how vulnerable this leaves females under the influence, at a much quicker state. With no substance in their body, how quickly they reach intoxication can be catastrophic to them mentally but also physically. The risk of blacking out I am sure would be much higher than it normally is through binge drinking.
ReplyDeleteI know that there are pushes all over the country for binge drinking and eating disorders, but I hope that this push to keep females "safe" from bodily harm, physical harm from others, and from themselves. I hope this goes away much sooner than later.
I really like Lori's comment here. We have been fighting eating disorders since the 80's and continue to do so. However, it's no longer an issue at the forefront of our consciousnesses as prevention educators. We have so many areas to tackle it's overwhelming, especially since many of our prevention educators are the sole professional on their campus doing this work. Where do we go? Eating disorders, alcohol, drugs, prescription drugs, tobacco cessation, unhealthy sexual behaviors, etc. Each subcategory is a huge career in itself.
ReplyDeleteJust like HIV/AIDS, eating disorders are no longer on the forefront of our prevention efforts because we have made some headway in them AND because "more serious" issues have cropped up. It's about a balance!