The pandemic may have contributed to a huge increase in eating disorders among teenagers and children, paediatricians warned today.
Doctors spoke of four-fold increases in referrals – and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health warned families to look out for more young people developing the disorders.
The college said specialists around the country all speak of increasing numbers of patients with the problem.
It said that increased stresses on young people and children from isolation and having to study at home may have contributed – along with pressures to maintain fitness and exercise at home.
Factors such as cancellation of exams and loss of extracurricular activities all add to problems.
Devon paediatrician Dr Karen Street, the college’s officer for child mental health, reported 61 referrals in eight months this year starting in March – compared with 27 in the same period in 2019.
She said: “We are extremely concerned about many children and teenagers’ wellbeing because of the pandemic. Many of them are just not coping. Eating disorders are often related to a need for control – something many young people feel they have lost during the pandemic.
“Many have described needing a focus and goals which, in the absence of anything else, has for some centred around eating and exercise.”
She added: “Exercise is really important for young people. But too much exercise coupled with reduced eating in a young person who is a healthy weight really needs to be watched as it can quickly become a very serious problem, one with a high mortality rate.”
Dr Simon Chapman, from King’s College Hospital, London, said: “I’ve worked in eating disorders for ten years and I have never known us to be so busy. Referrals since March have tripled. It has been made harder during the pandemic because assessments and treatment have to be done through a screen.
“Sometimes, though, that just doesn’t work, and we have had to bring people up to the hospital. When families do come it has often been going on for several months, and of course the young people are very ill by then.”
Dr Penny Mancais, from Dorset, added: “We’ve seen a surge of eating disorders in children at Dorset County Hospital. Four are currently inpatients. We normally have about one a year. We have also had a few referrals for children who think they are being poisoned by their food, possibly linked to fears around COVID.”
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