Staff Editorial 10/25

For some students, consuming alcohol means cutting back on calories. This new dietary trend is called “drunkorexia.”

Not only is the term self-explanatory, but it also raises awareness to this growing problem among college students. Known for the practice of trading food calories for those in alcohol, “drunkorexia” is a term that often comes up in the context of eating disorders and alcohol issues.

According to The Denver Post, health counselors on college campuses have noticed a variety of issues related to eating and drinking disorders. For example, some students diet and over-exercise to prepare for partying on the weekends, and some suffer from more serious problems such as anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorders.

“Drunkorexia” is most common among young college women who will forgo eating all day just so they can get drunk at night. As we know, consuming alcohol on an empty stomach allows you to feel the effect of alcohol quicker. After a long night of drinking on an empty stomach, they tend to binge on junk food. After feeling guilty for devouring junk food, they will vomit. This may seem like “no big deal” to some students, but its health effects are extremely severe.

In fact, Medical Director of the Eating Recovery Center in Denver Dr. Kenneth Weiner said that anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness.

Has our nation’s craze for being skinny led us to this? In a recent news release, The National Eating Disorders Association stated that nearly 10 million women and one million men have an eating disorder and millions more struggle with binge-eating disorder.

With these statistics in mind, we must be aware of its negative consequences. Whether it’s dieting, over-exercising or more serious disorders such as bulimia, these are not the right ways to watch our waistline. Although students know it is wrong, they continue to live this unhealthy lifestyle, not recognizing its long-term affects.

If college campuses across the nation can raise awareness about this issue, we can prevent more students from falling into the “drunkorexia” category.

Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.