The term drunkorexia pretty much means exactly what it sounds like: being drunk and anorexic at the same time. Unfortunately, more than 80 percent of college students, both male and female, who binge drink report doing it.
I had a chance to interview and post content from Joy Stephenson-Laws, the Founder of the non-profit pH Labs’ - the life and death impact of drunkorexia and tips on being proactive in identifying it and preventing it.
Drunkorexia as a term is fairly self-explanatory, but why does it happen?
· The idea behind drunkorexia is to limit the number of calories from food, so that you can drink more (have fun) without gaining weight. Drinking on an empty stomach also gets you drunk faster and for less money.
What are the dangers?
Dangers include the following:
· Dehydration
· Vitamin and mineral depletion, especially B vitamins
· Chronic malnutrition
· Alcohol poisoning
· Blackouts, which may lead to risky behaviors like driving under the influence and unprotected sex. It also may make someone more of a target for a sexual assault.
· High blood pressure, heart disease
· Reduced cognitive abilities, e.g., difficulty concentrating, trouble studying or making decisions
· Poor academic performance
· Social problems, e.g., fights, violence, dysfunctional relationships
· Legal problems – DUI’s
How can parents talk to their teens about avoiding it?
Talk to your teens using simple language about the importance of drinking responsibly so that when they are allowed to drink, they can make intelligent decisions. Telling them not to drink is almost futile but you can tell them to make sure they never drink on an empty stomach. Drinking on an empty stomach is asking for trouble – because of the effects of the alcohol reaching your brain faster than if you had food in your system. Explain that the effects may seem to feel good at first but they may not be aware of their surroundings (blackouts) and put themselves at risk for harm to self and others. Alcohol related sexual assaults are a real issue and is quite prevalent. A good site I usually refer to in my discussion with teenagers is https://sobercollege.com/addiction-blog/what-percentage-of-college-sexual-assaults-involve-alcohol/. Finally, recent studies confirm alcohol may make you fat – and may actually make it difficult to lose weight so drinking really defeats the purpose if they are trying to keep weight off.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/behindtheheadlines/news/2017-01-11-study-reveals-how-alcohol-shifts-brain-into-starvation-mode/
What about parents whose children are technically adults - how can they balance warning of the dangers with allowing freedom?
As parents we should provide the necessary education as indicated earlier. We should also expose them to education from the community or colleges where relevant. Recently, my husband suggested that young adults with a propensity to drink should be required to become familiar and involve themselves with groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to really understand the impact that irresponsible drinking can cause.
We also have to allow our young adults the freedom to make decisions based on what they have learned from both us and the community. And they will make the wrong decisions sometimes. When they do, we have to be prepared to provide support and appropriate intervention. Appropriate and early intervention will make it more likely for them to learn from the first bad experience rather than repeating the bad decisions.
I also provided more information on this issue in my blog --http://phlabs.com/knowing-about-drunkorexia-can-save-your-childs-life.
Stephenson-Laws, pH Labs’ founder, a national nonprofit health information organization with a diverse team of health care professionals who are experts in making complex health and health-related topics easy-to-understand and easy for your audience to apply to their daily lives.
Joy Stephenson-Laws is the founder of Proactive Health Labs (www.phlabs.org), a national non-profit health information company that provides education and tools needed to achieve optimal health. Her most recent book is Minerals - The Forgotten Nutrient: Your Secret Weapon for Getting and Staying Healthy, available through Amazon, iTunes and bookstores.
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