By Shaun Davies
ninemsn
Increasing numbers of young Australians are habitually skipping meals to offset their alchohol consumption in a fad that's been dubbed "drunkorexia", experts say.
Pressure to stay thin while maintaining an active social life is pushing young women in particular towards this behaviour, which is also on the rise in the UK and the US.
A celebrity-obsessed culture that places high value on beauty and portrays decadent behaviour as a fashionable lifestyle choice has helped create an environment where "drunkorexia" can thrive, according to obesity expert Samantha Thomas.
"I guess it's not suprising that we're starting to see it [in Australia] and it's quite dangerous. [Starvation and binge drinking] are really glamourised and glorified," Dr Thomas said.
"It's a very dangerous fad because it will lead quite easily into some very damaging eating disorders and also an addiction … to alcohol."
Dr Thomas, a senior research fellow at Monash University, said there were a variety of consequences associated with binge drinking without eating.
"The effects of alcohol when drinking on an empty stomach are much stronger," she said.
"But also, this can become an ingrained, established behaviour."
Mary, a 27-year-old who works at a Sydney publishing house, will often skip dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, knowing she'll consume up to 700 calories in alcohol.
"That's essentially half the day's calories. If I'm feeling too queasy to wait until I consume the alcohol, I'll have a glass of low fat milk to line my stomach," she said.
She said bingeing on alcohol was part of the social fabric in major cities, which made heavy drinking sessions difficult to avoid.
"There is almost nothing else to do with your friends on a weekend but get blind drunk," she said.
"When you live in a city where the primary social activity is getting drunk and picking up, then being drunk and attractive are simply musts, which means if you're going to have two meals' worth of calories in booze, you'd best skip the meal."
Mary said it was not unusual for young people, girls in particular, to avoid food and water for an entire a weekend, which was "deeply taxing" on their bodies.
"What is problematic is that binge drinking puts women in dangerous situations — there is a reason women get in more physical fights, that the STD and HIV rate is rising and that alcohol overdoses are becoming more common," she said.
"If you drink on an empty stomach you are simply much more drunk and much more dangerous to yourself and others, socially, morally and physically.
"No one talks about it enough, but I shudder to think how many people from this generation will die of liver failure."
Dr Thomas said governments, media and parents needed to drive home messages about healthy weight, as opposed to weight loss.
"We can't just blame celebrities. We really need to move away as a society from an ideal body type. That needs a big social shift," Dr Thomas said.
"We're seeing a really big misinterpretation of obesity and obesity messages."
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