A large number of female university students in Australia are showing symptoms related to drunkorexia, and have raised concerns among clinical psychologists. Actually the disorder is a combination of binge drinking and of skipping meals as a way of paying for calories gained from consuming alcoholic beverages.

According to researchers from the University of South Australia, the information gathered revealed that about 82.70% of young female university students in Australia who responded to their survey, indicated signs of drunkorexic behaviors during the past three months. Of those who showed signs of drunkorexia, more than 28% regularly consume low-calorie, sugar-free cocktail drinks then purposely skip meals; or engage in exercises at least 25 % of the time, to purge calories out of the their body.

Clinical psychologist Alycia Powell-Jones who led the UniSA research study, expressed concerns, saying:

”Excessive consumption of alcohol when combined with disordered and restrictive eating habits, is extremely dangerous.”

Ms. Powell-Jones explained that this type of behavior can drastically increase the risk of developing serious physical as well as mental health issues; examples of which include nutrition deficiency, liver cirrhosis, hypoglycemia, liver cirrhosis, blackouts, memory lapses, cognition deficiency, as well as brain and heart damage.

Excessive alcohol consumption is already a global issue, being the cause of millions of deaths; many thousands of which involved young lives. In Australia alone, one in six individuals regularly drink alcohol at dangerous levels, increasing their risk of developing alcohol-related health disorder or injury during their lifetime.

The findings that almost a third of the young female university students who responded to their survey, are purposely avoiding food as trade off for regular alcohol consumption, is a serious health concern and requires addressing.