"Drunkorexia" Stalks Young Women Around the World | The Fix

10/26/12 10:01 AM

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"Drunkorexia" Stalks Young Women Around the World

Starving yourself before binge drinking is now common in Australiaand a recent study shows 16% of US college students engage in the dangerous practice.
It's the ultimate false economy. But "drunkorexia" starving yourself in order to "spend" your desired daily calorie consumption on alcohol instead, while saving cash both by not buying food and then by requiring less booze to get you drunkis now widespread in Australia, reports the Aussie Sunday Telegraph. Dr. Naomi Crafti, spokeswoman for the Australian Eating Disorders Foundation, said: "This is tied in with the increase in binge drinking in Australia... We also know there is an increase in the number of people suffering from eating disorders...and there is no reason to believe that their alcohol intake is any different." She says "many" young College girls are particularly at risk. Photo via women in Australia suffer from these twin problems: By Will Godfrey "They are not eating all day because they know they are going to 10/31/11 drink at night so they are saving their calories. Then they are drinking | Share large quantities of alcohol which has no nutrients, getting excessively drunk because they have no food in their stomach and often engaging in promiscuous sexual activity...and later on purging to rid Why Eating Disorders are themselves of the calories of alcohol." The harmful consequences of Surging Among American this behavior far outweigh any "savings." Earlier this month, a Men University of Missouri study found that "short- and long-term Is Bulimia A Form of cognitive problems including difficulty concentrating, studying and Addiction? making decisions" can be added to the risk of physical issues such as The Hungry Housewife Who liver and blood pressure problems. Yet 16% of American college Founded Overeaters studentsthree quarters of them femaleengage in the practice. Anonymous Unsurprisingly, the word "drunkorexia" is a media term, rather than a How to Break Out of a medical one, but research confirms that alcoholism and eating Binge disorders frequently co-occurroughly half of women with eating Is Binge Drinking a Feminist disorders are thought to have a drink problem as well. The Issue? combination has been widely-reported in the States in the last few years. Dr. Douglas Bunnell, former president of the National Eating Disorders Association, told the New York Times back in 2008, "Both disorders are behaviors that are glorified and reinforced. Binge drinking is almost cool and hip, and losing weight and being thin is a cultural imperative for young women in America. Mixing both is not surprising, and it has reached a tipping point in terms of public awareness.

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"Drunkorexia" Stalks Young Women Around the World | The Fix

10/26/12 10:01 AM

TAGS: drunkorexia anorexia bulimia eating disorders binge drinking college drinking News Will Godfrey

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