Exploring the rising rate of eating disorders in the UK
Eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating, are on the rise in the UK. According to the Children’s Commissioner, around 1.25 million people in the UK are struggling with one of these eating disorders, with a disproportionate number of these aged 25 or below.
Although these numbers are shocking, this isn’t a sudden increase. For instance, between 2010 and 2016, NHS figures showed a 70% increase in the number of both men and women with eating disorders admitted to hospital. Eating disorders have been increasing for decades and it looks as though they are likely to continue doing so.
Here are some additional statistics:
The number of children and young people admitted to hospital with eating disorders increased by 35% in 2022.
The NHS aims to have 95% of children and young people with eating disorders begin treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for non-urgent cases. However the NHS is currently missing this 95% target, as only 78% of urgent cases and 81% of non-urgent cases were seen within the target time frame in the third quarter of 2022-23.
Not only has the number of children starting treatment more than doubled since 2016-17, also worrying is that in the last quarter of 2022-23, 45% of urgent cases were waiting more than 12 weeks to start treatment. For routine cases, this percentage dropped to 34%
Anorexia is known to have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric condition
What’s behind this increase?
Covid-19 isolation has been blamed for the increase in the number of children with anorexia and bulimia in England.
Dr Agnes Ayton, the chair of the Eating Disorder Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the number of people experiencing problems had risen sharply with conditions such as anorexia thriving in the isolation of lockdown.
Who is more affected - men or women?
There is a common misconception that eating disorders only affect females. This can mean that boys often arrive to treatment later in the disease process.
While the large majority of those affected are young women, admissions of young men have more than doubled in recent years.
What will happen next?
Eating disorders are constantly rising, but the issue can be addressed if people start getting help in the earlier stages. We need to prioritise and focus on early detection of eating disorders so that medical treatment doesn’t become necessary.
For instance, there should be eating disorder awareness campaigns to help people understand their symptoms and call for help.
In addition, healthcare professionals need to be trained, and people need to be made aware of the risks of eating disorders.
The NHS needs to focus on the mental health of young people. Children and young people with eating disorders often wrestle with other serious conditions, such as depression and anxiety, that need to be managed simultaneously for the best possible outcome. Left untreated, eating disorders can lead to severe malnutrition, family dysfunction, relationship breakdown and sometimes, tragically, death.
If you, or someone close to you, wants to talk about an eating disorder, please get in touch. I am a fully trained Medical Doctor who specialises in integrative psychotherapy. I work with many people who suffer with eating disorders, depression and anxiety.