One in five adults skip meals to allow them to drink more, a survey suggests.
Dubbed drunkorexics, they ‘save’ calories from food, so that they can booze later on without putting on weight.
Eighteen per cent of the 3,000 people in the poll followed the practice. Among men aged 25 to 34 the figure rose to 47 per cent. For women in the same age group it was 34 per cent.
Dr John Giles, of Benenden, a private health insurer that commissioned the survey, said: ‘Even with the spending of many millions of pounds by the NHS and public health organisations it seems that basic information about diet and wellbeing is not getting through to the public. Although young people are drinking less, many seem to be favouring alcohol consumption over a healthy, balanced diet. It’s time to have a serious debate about how we encourage individuals to take greater personal responsibility for their future health and wellbeing.’
Dr Giles suggested that pressure to be slim, knowledge of calorie control and peer pressure to drink were to blame.
Experts warn replacing food calories with the ‘empty’ ones in alcohol could starve the body of essential vitamins and minerals.
Daily Mail