Experts at Liverpool's Alder Hey hospital fear pandemic has lead to a big increase in youngsters with eating disorders

Experts at Alder Hey are concerned the Coronavirus pandemic has lead to an explosion in the number of children going to hospital with eating disorders.

Across the country referrals have risen by a fifth since 2018 - with almost 5000 young people needing treatment

That's being blamed on a big shift in routine as well as a delay in seeking help

Abigail Leveridge is a support worker in Liverpool - she says that makes things really difficult:

"We've seen quite a big increase. We've seen a lot of youngsters being referred to us when they are quite unwell. It might be that children have had more time on their own at home and had no structured time or parents working from home and they've been off school.

"We're tending to see them at the point of referral more poorly than they've been in recent years so possibly the eating disorder has been around longer.

"There's been such a change in routine. Children and young people thrive on routine.

"The longer they don't get treatment the more likely they are to be unwell and require pediatric treatment and particularly around this time of year hospitals are busy places anyway."

The data shows there were 21,794 admissions for eating disorders among all age groups in 2019/20, up 13% from the 19,244 in 2018/19 and up 32% from 16,547 in 2017/18.

For children aged 18 and under, there was a 9% rise in admissions from 4,534 in 2018/19 to 4,962 in 2019/20, but the jump was 19% from 4,160 admissions in 2017/18.

Some 4,348 of the admissions in 2019/20 were for teenagers aged 13 to 18, up 8% on a year earlier (4,021).

A further 418 admissions in 2019/20 were for 10 to 12-year-olds, up 12% on 374 a year earlier.

Almost half of the 418 admissions among 10 to 12-year-olds were for girls with anorexia (187) while there were also admissions for a range of eating disorders among youngsters under 10.

Tom Madders, director of campaigns at the charity Young Minds, said: “It is worrying to see a further rise in the number of children and young people being admitted to hospital for eating disorders.

“While there have been improvements in waiting times for eating disorder services for children in recent years, it can still be difficult for them to get the help they need before they reach crisis point.

“The factors behind eating disorders are complex but we know what a difference early support can make, often preventing problems from escalating and meaning that a young person is more likely to fully recover.

“With it becoming clearer that the pandemic is deepening the crisis in young people’s mental health, the Government must act to ensure that early support is there for those that are struggling and make prevention and early intervention a genuine priority.”

Eating disorders are characterised by eating too much or too little, being obsessed with weight or body shape, excessive exercise, having strict food routines and/or deliberate vomiting after eating.

The most common types of eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorder.

Overall, hospital admissions for anorexia rose 9% from 8,090 in 2018/19 to 8,796 in 2019/20, while bulimia rose 15% from 4,253 to 4,904.

Meanwhile, admissions for other types of eating disorders rose 17% from 6,901 to 8,094.

In the latest NHS Digital data, hospital admissions are most common in adults aged 26 to 40, with 6,510 in women and 437 in men in 2019/20.

The second most common group is those aged 19 to 25, with 4,216 admissions in women and 290 in men in 2019/20.

While admissions have been going up year on year, provisional data for the first three months of the pandemic shutdown show a drop in admissions for anorexia.

For the three months April to June this year - the height of the first wave of the pandemic - some 195 admissions were for adults with anorexia, together with 252 for children under 18.

This is a drop compared to 257 for adults and 309 for children in the same three-month period a year earlier.

However, there was a rise in bulimia admissions, with 35 for adults and eight for children in the three-month pandemic period, up from 20 for adults and three for three children a year earlier.

Dr Agnes Ayton, chair of the eating disorders faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “This deadly illness is thriving because people have lost many of their support networks alongside access to community services as a result of Covid-19.

“Infection control and social distancing in inpatient units has also led to a reduced number of beds, so desperately-ill patients are struggling to get help.

“The Government and the NHS must take immediate action to tackle this crisis.

“All medical professionals should get better training in spotting eating disorders early and services should be properly resourced so patients who manage to get a referral don’t have to wait so long for treatment.”

Data from more than 8,200 adults in the Health Survey for England published last month shows one in six adults in England now has a possible eating disorder.

The study found that 16% of adults in 2019 (19% of women and 13% of men) had a possible disorder, including 4% who said their feelings about food interfered with their ability to work, meet personal responsibilities or enjoy a social life.

Among women, those under 35 were most likely to have a possible eating disorder (28% of those aged 16-24 and 27% of those aged 25-34).

Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at the eating disorder charity Beat, said a rise in hospital admissions year on year does not necessarily mean more people are suffering overall.

But he said a consistent rise year on year is still concerning “as it indicates sufferers aren’t getting community treatment fast enough”.

He added: “The Government have made provision for more money for eating disorder services but it is clear not enough is reaching the front lines.

‘We also know the need for services will likely increase due to the pandemic, which has caused a huge amount of distress and anxiety to those affected by eating disorders and seen demand for our own services doubling in the past year.”