Condition hits children under nine and over 80s
CHILDREN under the age of nine and pensioners over 80 are being admitted to hospital suffering from anorexia and other eating disorders, NHS data reveals.
Three boys and three girls aged nine and under received treatment for anorexia in hospital in England between 2017 and last year.
A further 71 boys and 52 girls in the same age group were treated for other types of eating disorders.
They show the rate of admissions for anorexia is highest among teenage girls, with 939 cases for those aged 13 to 15 and 909 cases aged 16 to 18. There were also 44 cases of boys the same age. There were a further 258 cases of girls and 20 boys with bulimia.
Pensioners aged 80 plus are also affected by eating disorders, with 11 cases of men and 44 incidences of women admitted for hospital treatment for anorexia from 2017 to last year.
There were a further eight admissions for women aged over 80 with bulimia.
Admissions for other eating disorders were 61 women and 33 men. Figures rose to their highest among the 26 to 40 age group, with 1,777 female admissions for anorexia and 82 male and for bulimia there were 1,412 women and 202 men. In the 41 to 60 age group there were 1,169 women and 65 men diagnosed with anorexia and 613 women and 49 men with bulimia.
Rebecca Willgress at eating disorder charity Beat, said: “Eating disorders are very complex mental illnesses and there is increasing awareness that they affect people of all ages, genders and backgrounds.
“While the rise in the number of people being treated for eating disorders doesn’t necessarily mean more people are suffering, it is clear there’s a vital need for local services with the funding and resources to provide specialist care fast for everyone who needs it. “More adults than ever are receiving treatment for eating disorders but there is a severe lack of investment in services for them and many people are unable to access specialist help.
The Government has introduced waiting time targets for children and young people and these have to be introduced for adults, too, who have to wait longer at every stage for treatment. We also need more research into the causes of eating disorders and how they can best be treated and prevented.”
Eating Disorders Awareness Week runs until March 3. For details beateatingdisorders.org.uk or Beat helpline on 0808 801 0677.