Number of kids being force-fed rises 800%
Medics’ drastic last resort to treat severe eating disorders
A RECORD number of Scots youngsters are being force-fed by the NHS as it battles to keep people with severe eating disorders alive.
Last year, 137 patients were tubefed life-saving ‘artificial nutrition’ without their consent – with 65 of them children.
This is a rise of 830 per cent from the seven youngsters who were compulsory fed in 2009.
Almost half of all artificial nutrition treatments – given after medics issue a ‘T3’ certificate to allow intervention without a patient’s consent – were administered to people under the age of 18 last year.
Experts fear there has been an increase in serious cases of eating disorders among children – which include anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating – and have suggested youngsters’ use of social media may fuel the problem.
Scotland’s mental health regulator is hoping to meet with eating disorder consultants, specialists and children’s and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to understand why more children than ever before are being tube-fed without their consent.
Last night Dr Julie Morris, consultant psychiatrist and former chair of the Faculty of Eating Disorders for the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said: ‘Over the past ten years there’s been a great deal of research into young people that shows the sooner you vigorously treat anorexia, the higher the chance of recovery.
‘Anorexia is not so much a disorder of eating but a disorder of beliefs and values. The fact is that social media can amplify those beliefs and it makes it much easier to exchange those views.’
Meanwhile, the UK’s eating disorder charity, Beat, said: ‘Some people who are ill may seek out online groups to find ways of maintaining their illness.
‘We would recommend that anyone who is considering finding eating disorder forums online joins Beat’s online support groups, where they can find advice in a space that always encourages recovery.’
The rise in cases of serious eating disorder treatments was revealed in a report published last week by the Mental Welfare Commission.
It detailed the number of compulsory detentions – people held in hospitals under mental health laws – and compulsory treatments ordered by doctors where patients are either deemed incapable of giving meaningful consent, or else have refused to give consent to a treatment medics believe is vital.
As a life-saving last resort, a T3 certificate allows doctors to give artificial nutrition against the patient’s wishes. Children now make up 45 per cent of all T3 forms accepted for artificial nutrition treatments. During the process, nutrient-rich liquid is administered through a tube, which is usually inserted in the nose.
Moira Connelly, interim medical director at the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, said: ‘The data shows a rise in circumstances when artificial nutrition has been administered.
‘This may be due to a rise in young people with the severe form of anorexia which requires this treatment, and may reflect increased use of the Mental Health Act to safeguard decision-making when treatment is given in this form.’