Every year students live up their reputation by out-drinking each other at parties, clubs, and campus events. No doubt drinking alcohol is a social activity that many students associate with having fun, but there are concerns to be thinking about when it comes to alcohol and the student lifestyle.

After chatting with a few students around campus about their drinking habits, some common answers I received about why they do it is because drinking is social. Sounds simple enough... except for that the majority of these students would tell me about how expensive it is and how they often feel like crap the next morning. Drinking gives many students the courage to approach that cute girl or guy across the room and to "let loose" for a night out. As fun as a night out on the town can be, excessive drinking can also have harmful effects on the body.

Fact: Up to one in five students saves their daily calories for alcohol (according to a study by the University of Missouri). When I was in high school, I was friends with a girl who suffered from an eating disorder. In grade nine at the age of 15, she was drinking heavily about four nights a week and refused to eat during those days. She consumed her daily calories in alcohol, and suffered from what we have come to know as "drunkorexia."

There is no doubt that the culture of drinking on campus is a social one. What is worrying is that students are unaware of that effect that alcohol has on the body. I decided to talk with Karen McGregor, the Executive Director of Hope's Garden, an eating disorders support and resource centre located in London. I wanted to know more about the link between alcohol abuse and eating disorders in order to educate myself and other students about what we can do to help people like my friend from high school to overcome this substance abuse.

Is there a direct connection between drinking heavily and eating disorders? An eating disorder is a clinical mental disorder and is a very complicated illness. "Generally it is a combination of multiple underlying contributing factors that lead to the development of an eating disorder," said McGregor. "These contributing factors include familial, psychological, societal, as well as media, peers and there can even be a genetic component."

The most thought-provoking part about my talk with McGregor was when she told me that eating disorders develop as a way to cope with stress — "an unhealthy coping skill, if you will," she offered. Students are constantly under stress from work, school and their personal lives, and trying to keep up with the social culture on campus only fuels the fire. "Out of all mental illnesses, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate," said McGregor. Drinking could be a method used by many to cover up stress factors and to gain more control in one's life. "It has become socially acceptable to talk badly about our bodies and use harmful measures to control one's weight," McGregor noted.

Every student deserves time to socialize with friends and head out for a night on the town. However, it is important to eat proper meals every day and to take realistic and healthy measures such as a wellproportioned diet and exercising regularly if you wish to lose weight. Your body will thank you for the food, and your self-esteem will thank you for taking care of your body.

Hope's Garden is a support centre for self-admitted individuals, not a treatment centre. For more information, visit hopesgarden.org or call 519-434-7721.