A new drinking trend has hit the college scene. It’s called drunkorexia, and it affects young men and women looking to stay skinny and still indulge in college debauchery.
The unofficial medical term describes the practice of restricting food intake in order to be able to binge drink without experiencing weight gain. The term refers to any restriction of food, whether it be skipping one meal or skipping food for days, in anticipation of binge drinking.
“While this is not a medical term it unfortunately has begun to be popular among college students,” says Colleen Takagishi, a clinical nutritionist practicing in Evanston. “Especially those students who have preexisting eating disorders.”
Drunkorexia is a combination of anorexia, bulimia and binge drinking — and young adults who already suffer from one of those eating disorders are more susceptible to becoming victims. Statistics from the National Eating Disorder Association suggest that 30 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 24 forgo food in order to drink more.
“We surveyed close to 700 freshmen at East Carolina University and 14 percent classified themselves as drunkorexics,” says Dr. Sloane Burke, an assistant professor at East Carolina University. “Six percent said they were drunkorexic in order to try and avoid gaining weight, and eight percent said that were drunkorexic so they could feel the effects of alcohol quicker.”
Binge drinking is up 16 percent among college students since 1993, according to a 2005 report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance at Columbia University. Data from NEDA says 20 percent of college students suffer from an eating disorder. With the rise of binge drinking and the high rate of eating disorders on college campuses, it was only a matter of time before the two combined.
Short Term and Long Term Health Consequences
Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach decreases the time it takes to reach intoxication, while increasing the possibilities of blackouts and alcohol poisoning. “This is because there is no food in the person’s digestive tract to slow down the absorption of the alcohol,” Takagishi says.
In the long run, drunkorexia can lead to alcohol addiction and psychological problems as well as other health risks including cancer, liver disease, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
“When a person opts to use alcohol in place of healthy foods this leads to poor nutritional status,” Takagishi says. “Which overtime will lead to immune compromise and nutritional deficiencies.”
Starving to Avoid Weight Gain
The motivation for drunkorexics is simple: to stay skinny while still being able to party. “I like to go out and drink, but I don’t want to have to regret it in the morning when I feel bloated,” a Weinberg freshman named Gillian* says. “I don’t think it’s a problem, I didn’t even know it was considered a disorder.”
On a day where she knows she will be drinking, Gillian usually has a normal breakfast, a salad or light sandwich for lunch and skips dinner. At night, however, she stops counting calories while she downs drink after drink, sometimes taking up to eight shots in one night. “It’s like a fool-proof, fun diet,” she says. “And it works for me, so why would I stop?”
Starving to Get Intoxicated Quicker
While young women tend to be drunkorexic in order to avoid weight gain, young men use the same technique in order to reach a higher level of intoxication. “I get drunk faster if I don’t eat dinner, and I think it’s a positive thing,” a Weinberg freshman named Danny* says. “However, it’s not usually something I plan ahead of time and I don’t do it to lose weight.”
The view of drunkorexia as a way of life, rather than a disorder, is common. “I partially consider myself to be a drunkorexic,” a Weinberg freshman named Mac* says. “I don’t consider stopping, and I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
Weinberg freshman Emily Blumberg says she considers a number of her friends drunkorexic. “They don’t see it as anything wrong, or really even think about it when they do it.”
Disordered Eating vs. Eating Disorder
While drunkorexia can be considered a hybrid between anorexia, bulimia, and binge drinking, it is not classified as an eating disorder. It is referred to as disordered eating, which are behaviors that are problematic but do not meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria of a diagnosable eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
“Disordered eating is something that many people engage in to some degree at some point in their lives,” says Wilhelmina Shoger, an eating disorder specialist in Oak Brook. “However that doesn’t have to mean they are suffering with an eating disorder.”
The combination of media pressure for young adults to stay thin and the peer pressure to consume alcohol among college students means drunkorexia may continue to affect more college students. “Young women feel that pressure to be thin and to look a certain way,” said Burke says. “And they see drunkorexia as an easy way out.”
Editor’s note: A misspelling in the original version of this story has been corrected. Thanks to commenter Kyle for pointing out the mistake.
*Names have been changed