Written by Geneva Crooks, Staff Witer

In a society obsessed with appearance, dieting has become a way of life.

But, what happens when calorie conscious people want to have a few drinks? For some, the answer is a phenomenon called “drunkorexia.”

Common among college students, “drunkorexia” is the process of someone eating less to drink more. With drinking being such a huge part of life for most college students, some find themselves skipping meals to save calories for when they drink.

You may be wondering, “People really include the calories of their drinks in their daily diet?”

The answer to that is yes. In fact, many people do. Which is why so many different alcoholic drink companies are now marketing lighter beverages with fewer calories.

I don’t know about you all, but drinking on an empty stomach always either makes me extremely sick or gives me a hangover. Besides those unpleasant symptoms, drinking on an empty stomach has far more grave consequences. Not only is it extremely dangerous, but it can also lead to an increased risk of diabetes, liver disease and dementia.

Although these may not cause immediate problems, they are dangerous long term effects.

“It really just sounds like a terrible idea to me,” Andrew Earle, junior psychology major said. “Although fun, alcohol has a lot of bad things in there. That’s insane to starve your body of nutrients to make room for something harmful.”

Studies show that 30 percent of women, ages 18 to 23, have skipped a meal to drink. Alarming right?

“Wow, I’ve never heard of that,” Chelsea Ramsey, junior biology major, said. “I think it’s pretty dumb considering alcohol makes you dehydrated. I don’t think it’ll be good for your liver in the long run. It’s basically just running your body dry.”

Although “drunkorexia” isn’t considered an eating disorder yet, with the pressure of looks in our current day, it could be someday soon.

It is important to be aware just how terrible this can be to one’s health, and not worth the long term effects at all.