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Children’s eating disorders have doubled in under a decade, damning new figures have shown.
More than 10,600 kids in England were waiting to begin treatment in the past school year.
This is up more than 5,000 on 2016/2017 when 5,240 children were left in the queue. Some have even endured delays of more than a year.
Experts today labelled the figures ‘shocking’, warning that early intervention in preventing children developing eating disorders should be the Government’s ‘absolute focus’.
It comes as separate research this month also showed that watching just 10 minutes of videos on TikTok can negatively affect a woman’s body image.
More than 10,600 kids in England were waiting to begin treatment in the past school year. This is up more than 5,000 on 2016/2017 when 5,240 children were left in the queue. Some have even endured delays of more than a year
The new figures from the House of Commons Library, obtained by the Lib Dems under freedom of information laws, found 12 per cent of children were now waiting more than three months for an appointment.
This was just one per cent three years ago.
NHS guidelines state children should wait no longer than four weeks for treatment to commence and no longer than one week following an urgent referral.
However, the longest a patient spent on the waiting list was 378 days at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, according to the data.
This figure stood at 174 days at Cornwall Partnership Foundation NHS Trust. By comparison, in 2019, the longest wait time was 66 days and 249 days in 2022.
So far this year, children at some trusts have waited for as long as 175 days for treatment, having already been assessed and diagnosed.
Previous research has found that girls are four times more likely to suffer an eating disorder than boys.
The figures mirror the worsening performance for mental health more broadly, with waiting lists soaring since the pandemic as increasing numbers of children seek help.
Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, who chairs the eating disorders all-party parliamentary group, told The Times: ‘Too many young people suffering from an eating disorder only get help when their eating disorder is so severe they need to be hospitalised. From there, recovery can take years.
‘Early intervention should be our absolute focus in tackling this misery.
‘Not just for preventing this unbearable suffering in the first place but also freeing up resources in the NHS by keeping people out of hospital and giving them stable lives in communities where they can thrive.’
She added: ‘That’s why we want to make sure that every child has someone they can turn to for help with their mental health, from introducing a dedicated mental health professional in every school to establishing walk-in mental health hubs in every community.
‘Through early intervention we can make sure children get the support they deserve before it is too late.’
Suzanne Baker, of the Faculty of Eating Disorders at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, also said: ‘These figures sadly reflect what we have been hearing on a day-to-day basis for quite some time.
‘Families are crying out for support when access to treatment is so hugely problematic.
‘Eating disorders are treatable illnesses, with early intervention [and] evidence-based treatment being key for good outcomes.
‘However, these figures show the shocking reality, one which increases the risk of chronic illness over a lengthy period of time.
‘It is indescribable to understand the devastation to the whole family unit that being left with little to no medical support for such a sick child brings.’
Experts have also repeatedly raised concerns that the impressionable minds of children are being easily swayed by social trends.
Much of the rise was also recorded during the Covid pandemic, with commentators suggesting that isolation due to lockdowns and increased online social interaction could have led to introspection or doubt among children.
Earlier this month Australian researchers found watching even 10 minutes of videos on TikTok can negatively affect a woman’s body image.
Experts at Charles Sturt University in New South Wales surveyed 273 women aged 18 to 28 on their body image and beauty standards, before splitting them into two groups.
The first watched eight-minute compilations of TikTok videos that included those glorifying eating disorders, dubbed ‘pro-anorexia’ content.
The other’s eight-minute compilation included videos involving nature, cooking and comedy.
While both groups later reported a decrease in body image satisfaction, those exposed to pro-anorexia content saw the largest drop.
Writing in the journal Plos One, the researchers warned that young women exposed to pro-anorexia content on TikTok could face an increase risk of developing disordered eating.
In 2023 TikTok was warned it was not moving swiftly enough to strengthen its content policies after a study found its recommendation algorithm pushed self-harm and eating disorder content to teenagers within minutes of them expressing interest in the topics.
It comes as the NHS’s mental health tsar last month also warned young women were consuming risky amounts of energy drinks instead of food in a bid to lose weight, amid a rise in developing eating disorders.
The drinks are often marketed as ‘healthy’ and even sold in gyms — but are very low in calories and may also suppress appetite if they contain a high caffeine content, which eating disorder specialists claim makes them open to ‘abuse’.
Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national director for mental health, this week said she was ‘concerned’ about the trend — which has echoes of the trend in the 1990s for consuming large amounts of caffeinated Diet Coke, rather than eating.
Ms Murdoch also hit out at drink manufacturers for promoting their products to young people as ‘a quick way to lose weight’.
