Sharp rise in teenage girls with eating disorders during Covid

GP records show a sharp rise in teenage girls in the UK developing eating disorders and self-harming during the Covid pandemic, a study has found.

The increases were greatest among girls living in the wealthiest areas, which could be due to better GP access.

Young women have told the BBC that the lack of control over their lives during lockdown was a behavioural trigger.

Eating disorders and self-harming have been rising among children and young people for a number of years but "increased substantially" between 2020 and 2022, the study found.

Over that period, around 2,700 diagnoses of eating disorders were anticipated among 13-16-year-olds, but 3,862 were actually observed - 42% more than the expected figure.

Dr Shruti Garg, from the University of Manchester - a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the study author - called it a "staggering rise" which highlighted an urgent need to improve early access to support.

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Source: BBC News, 21 June 2023