Drunkorexia
Is Making A Comeback
By Dr.Fourkan Ali
Restricting
food calories to save them for alcohol is not exclusive to women anymore.
Skipping meals to get drunk faster, or drinking in lieu of
eating to cut calories, isn’t a new phenomenon. You may know it as “drunkorexia,” a term used
to describe the behavior that’s reportedly common among college
students—engaging in disordered eating in order to negate the calories in
alcohol.
But skipping dinner to “make up” the lost calories could deplete
a person of essential nutrients. And since alcohol is more potent on an empty
stomach, students should be wary of the potential negative consequences, says
Dr. Dipali Rinker, a research assistant professor in the department of
psychology at the University of Houston.
Past reports have focused on young women’s vulnerability to
drunkorexia. The New York Daily News reported in 2011 that three times as many women engage in the behavior than men,
and the Atlantic noted in 2013 that alcohol companies market low-calorie beer and
wine as diet products to women.
But a recent study authored by Dr. Rinker suggests that it’s not
a phenomenon exclusive to women. “Our study suggested that males are just as
likely, if not more likely, to engage in these behaviors,” she told Medscape.
There were no gender differences for engaging in drunkorexia, said Rinker. In some cases, it was even the
opposite, where men were more likely to engage in disordered eating to save
calories for alcohol. “We suspect that this is because men, in general, just tend
to engage in riskier drinking behaviors than women,” said Rinker.
The study’s findings are based on a survey of 1,184 college
students, the majority of them from the University of Houston, who had reported
imbibing heavily at least once in the month prior to the survey.
More than 80% of the college students reported engaging in at
least one drunkorexia-related behavior in the past three months, suggesting
that the phenomenon is more prevalent among young people than previously
thought.
Not surprisingly, students living in fraternity and sorority
houses were more prone to reporting this behavior.
Also, given that numerous studies have suggested that eating
disorders and substance use disorders frequently co-occur—often in the
presence of other psychiatric and personality disorders—the popularity of
simultaneous disordered eating and drinking isn't shocking. Rinker says there's
more research needed to further examine the phenomenon.
"It is important to realize that, in addition to the amount
and/or frequency of alcohol consumption, the manner in which college students
drink puts them at greatest risk for experiencing problems," she
said.
Sources - The Fix
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