Drunkorexia is a culturally-coined word describing the practice of restricting food intake but indulging in alcohol (perhaps in significant amounts). Alcohol contains calories, the thinking goes, and too many calories leads to weight gain. A reasonable question to ask would be, "How should I moderate my drinking to avoid unnecessary weight gain?" But some take the issue to extremes, thinking that there's no way to have both food and alcohol and not get fat. The new (and more dangerous) question is, "Should I eat food or drink alcohol?" Those who are active in drunkorexia have decided that alcohol is more important.
Does this make drunkorexia an eating disorder?
Some media outlets quickly label drunkorexia as an eating disorder. Is it? Certainly, the behavior that stands out to the casual observer is avoiding food: Many people drink, sometimes too much, but relatively few starve themselves routinely. Yet the rarity of self-starvation does not, by itself, qualify drunkorexia as an eating disorder.
