Almost half of under-18s wait three months for eating disorder treatment, data suggests
Many children with eating disorders are struggling to get the care they need, ITV News Correspondent Rachel Younger reports
Almost half of the children and young people in need of urgent care for eating disorders in England are waiting more than three months to begin NHS treatment, analysis has suggested.
The Children’s Commissioner for England has looked at NHS figures for eating disorders in those aged under 18.
It found there were about 11,800 patients in that age group being treated for eating disorders in 2022/23, up from 5,240 in 2016/17.
In urgent cases, 45% of patients were waiting more than 12 weeks to start treatment, up from 16% in 2016/17.
In a 2015 guide, the NHS set a standard to ensure that by 2020/21 95% of children and young people with eating disorders begin treatment within one week for urgent cases and four weeks for non-urgent cases.
Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza said: “It’s worrying that children and young people are facing increasingly long waits for treatment for eating disorders – which are often serious and potentially life-threatening.
“Young people deserve timely access to effective care.”
The analysis also found the number of young people requiring hospital treatment for an eating disorder rose to 24,300 in 2020/21, 84% higher than in 2016/17.
The “vast majority” were young women and girls, the Children’s Commissioner said, although admissions of young men almost doubled to 909 in 2020/21.
Dame Rachel called on the government to “focus on tackling some of the potential drivers of disordered eating”.
“Children need to be robustly protected from harmful eating disorder content online which can drive body image issues,” she added.
Do you or someone you know suffer from an eating disorder? A number of organisations provide specialist advice regarding eating disorders:
NHS England also advises speaking to your GP for advice on how to help at home, and that it is helpful for the whole family to be aware of someone's situation.
GP's can also suggest support groups for parents caring for someone with an eating disorder.
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