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Drunkorexia: A 'new' college danger
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If you MUST do this, don't starve yourself beforehand!!
Drunkorexia is what you get when you combine anorexia, or other forms of self-imposed starvation, with binge drinking. Health care professionals are seeing this phenomenon show up at increasing rates on college campuses around the country and are concerned about the short and long term effects of this activity on the mostly women who choose to take part.
It is well known that drinking is central to college social life just nearly everywhere. Binge drinking is the most common form of drinking on college campuses. In fact, nearly 90% of alcohol consumed by youth 21 and under is by binge drinking. According to the Center for Disease Control, students are considered to binge drink if they consume enough alcohol to bring their blood alcohol level to .08 grams or above. This usually means 5 or more drinks for men and 4 or more for women in about a 2 hour time span. This kind of drinking behavior is commonly associated with bulimia nervosa, the eating disorder that is characterized by a person binge eating and then vomiting the meal, to avoid weight gain. But what experts are finding that is different than the norm is the increasing involvement of anorexics in binge drinking activities.
The ways that this shows up is students are cutting back on their food intake even more severely during the day, in order to compensate for binge drinking at night. And apparently, fear of weight gain is not the only incentive. Some student’s behavior is budget related. For an increasing number of kids with greater financial limitations, they’d rather cut back on food, than forego participation in the social traditions of the drinking environment. The need to fit in for all these self-starvers takes priority over food. This may be why freshmen and students involved in fraternities and sororities are believed to be at greater risk.
Women who starve themselves and then drink are setting themselves up for severe health problems long and short-term. According to CBS.com article, Drunkorexia: Health Risk For Women, women habitually drinking on an empty stomach are at a greater risk in all of those ways that make getting drunk dangerous for women on college campuses—like higher vulnerability to sexual and physical abuse. The same physical realities that make women more likely to pass out sooner than men, also make them more susceptible to cirrhosis later on. Since the female body stores a higher percentage of fat (which absorbs alcohol) and produces less of the enzymes that metabolize alcohol, women can consume less and still the alcohol can wreak greater havoc on their systems.
As a parent, there are limitations to what we can do from home when our kids are away at school. Encouraging them to “just say no” to social drinking is not at all effective. College age is not the time to first introduce to your kids the dangers of alcohol and your disapproval of alcohol abuse. (Parenting about alcohol abuse deserves a post or two of its own) You can, however, making sure that your college kids have adequate funds for meals, perhaps investing in a meal plan instead of providing cash budget for food. If you know that your child has already had problems with eating disorders, be sure to help her connect with counseling at school so that she can deal with those issues in her new, high stress school and social environment. Most of all, be aware and look for the signs:
1. Excessive weight loss.
2. Poor performance/grades
3. Frequent illness
4. Depression
Places to get help in Houston:
For help in Houston, most sources I spoke to pointed without hesitation to Dr. Albert Hergenroeder, Director of Adolescent Medicine at Baylor School of Medicine/ Texas Children’s. Dr. Hergenroeder is a super-star in the area of adolescent and sports medicine, with a very highly regarded Eating Disorder Program. See below for his contact information and other programs of note:
1. Adolescent Medicine at Baylor School of Medicine/ Texas Children’s 832-822-3660
http://www.bcm.edu/pediatrics/index.cfm?Realm=99992421&Realm_Name=Adolescent
2. The Walker Wellness Clinic (877) 899-7254
http://www.walkerwellness.com/
3. Menninger Eating Disorders Program (713) 275-5000
http://www.menningerclinic.com
Also see the Eating Disorder Referral site more more resources, or call 866-575-8100
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