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‘Drunkorexia’ On The Rise Among Female University Students

Marla Milling

Many female university students are making extreme choices to stay thin while keeping up with their social drinking habits.

New research from the University of South Australia analyzed the drinking patterns of 479 female students between the ages of 18-24. They found a large percentage of them are engaging in “Drunkorexia,” which means they purposefully skip meals to offset negative effects of consuming excess alcohol, such as gaining weight.

The potential risks of this behavior include a myriad of physical and mental health problems, including hypoglycemia, nutritional deficits, brain and heart damage, memory lapses, blackouts, depression and cognitive deficits.

Of the students profiled in this new study, a staggering 82.7% of them engaged in Drunkorexia behaviors in the past three months. At least 25% of the time, more than 28% regularly skipped meals, consumed low-calorie or sugar-free alcoholic beverages, and purged or exercised after drinking to reduce the calories.

Alycia Powell-Jones, clinical psychologist and Lead UniSA researcher, says, “It is important that clinicians, educators, parents and friends are aware of the factors that motivate young women to engage in this harmful and dangerous behavior, including cultural norms, beliefs that drive self-worth, a sense of belonging and interpersonal connectedness.”

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says 2018 figures show that more than 36.9% of college students ages 18-22 in the U.S. reported binge drinking in the past month; 9.6% reported heavy alcohol use in the past month.

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I am a full-time freelance writer in Asheville, North Carolina. I've written more than 900 published articles/essays for a wide variety of publications including

I am a full-time freelance writer in Asheville, North Carolina. I've written more than 900 published articles/essays for a wide variety of publications including Pregnancy, ePregnancy, Women's Health, Kids' Health, Health, Healthgate, and many others, as well as four non-fiction books. Plus, my background includes 10 years as a news producer for WLOS-TV (ABC affiliate in Asheville, N.C.), and six years as Director of Communications at Mars Hill College (now University) in Mars Hill, N.C.