Drunkorexia: The New Student Health Scare

Ever heard of 'drunkorexia'? No, neither had I, but I'll bet we hear more of it in the future. Probably from Alcohol Concern.

More students on university and college campuses are cutting calories during the day so they can binge drink at night, leaving them open to long-term health problems, new U.S. research suggests.

Hmm, sounds like what students have been doing for decades, saving their money up for a party by making economies elsewhere. Is there something I've missed?

Results from a study out of 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.'

Err, hold on, are you saying that this is driven by a desire to stay slim rather than just lack of funds? Well, that makes it a bit of a different fish-bearing kettle, doesn't it? Hey Jamie Oliver, this is what is commonly known as an unintended consequence of people like you being hideous arseholes.

The findings, which have been presented publicly but not peer-reviewed, ...

Colour me not surprised.

... are part of a growing body of research showing drunkorexia as a trend on campuses.

The cause?

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

The first two will be recognisable to anyone who has ever attended university, the last is encouraged by the modern slimming fad - sponsored by governments worldwide of late, funny enough - so hardly surprising.

The growing problem is another issue counsellors will have to handle as students spend their limited funds in potentially unhealthy ways, said Dr. Valerie Taylor, chief of psychiatry at Women's College Hospital in Toronto.

Because students have always been a paragon of health in the past, of course. Seriously, where did this woman get her education? In an Amish community or something?

"It's ironic. Society has to adapt to our changing environment and these kids are doing the same thing," Taylor said.

Students are the same people as in society? You don't say. And they adapt too? Crikey! You make them sound almost like humans.

"Like other universities, we are wrestling with the societal issue of alcohol consumption and excessive drinking in the university-aged population," the university's dean of student affairs, John Pierce, said in a statement at the time. "We've been proactively addressing this issue for several years and will continue to do so."

Good luck with that, John, you may find that you're banging your head against a centuries old brick wall, though.

The research suggests the majority of drunkorexics are women — they were three times more likely to have the disorder than men.

And why would that be?

"Women are bombarded with lots of images with what's socially acceptable," Taylor said. "They desperately want to not gain weight.

"If they can only consume so many calories a day . . . that's going to come from alcohol."

Oh, I see. It's the images they are bombarded with - presumably the implication being that evil businesses and Hollywood are doing that - and not worldwide disdain over obesity from governments, that is the problem.

What these students may not be aware of is that drunkorexia could affect their ability to learn and to make decisions, [...] the Missouri study suggests.

So that's what happened with our university-educated politicians, then. It all becomes crystal clear now.

H/T Cage