More than one in 20 women in the UK are ‘drunkorexic’

A new poll has revealed that more than one in 20 women in the UK admit to skipping meals or eating less to drink alcohol; a phenomenon known as “drunkorexia”.

Polling of 2,025 adults by YouGov revealed just 23% believed their health would improve if they reduced their drinking. Of the respondents, 840 were female drinkers., and of these, more than one in 20 admitted to skipping a meal or counting calories because they were drinking alcohol or planning to do so later that day.

The research was funded by drugs company Lundbeck, on behalf of its ‘drinking diet’ resource website, Driet.

Experts have warned experts warn that alcohol contains “empty calories”, offering no nutritional value – so swapping snacks for spirits could starve the body of essential vitamins and potentially lead to alcohol poisoning.

Dr Sarah Jarvis, Medical Advisor to the alcohol education charity Drinkaware said: “’Drunkorexia’ or skipping meals to save up those calories to drink alcohol could significantly impact your health and wellbeing. Starving yourself to drink to excess in a short amount of time can cause acute alcohol poisoning leading to confusion, vomiting and passing out. Doing this regularly could put you at risk of chronic health harms like liver and heart disease in the long term.

“While it’s good to know about the calories in your favourite drink, don’t let it become an obsession that means you skip meals so that you can drink to excess. For the calorie conscious, it’s healthier to cut back on alcohol rather than food.”

Recently, Drinkaware released new education resources aimed at children aged nine to 14-years-old, to teach them about the “harms and risks” linked to alcohol.