Citation

Ford T. Lancet Child Adolesc. Health 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S2352-4642(23)00149-9

PMID

37352882

Abstract

Increasing global evidence is unveiling the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting societal upheaval adversely affected young people's mental health. In England, the Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) Survey series and the Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder (CYP ED) Waiting Times data provide clear evidence that referrals to specialist services for the assessment and treatment of eating disorders increased substantially following pandemic onset in 2020.

In The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, Alex M Trafford and colleagues provide further convincing and worrying evidence of substantial increases in the incidence of eating disorders and self-harm among adolescent girls (aged 10-24 years) presenting to primary care in the UK from March, 2020, to March, 2022, compared with predicted (expected) incidence based on antecedent trends in the previous decade. The incidence of eating disorder during the pandemic was 42·4% (95% CI 25·7-61·3) higher than expected for girls aged 13-16 years, and 32·0% (13·3-53·8) higher than expected for girls aged 17-19 years. Similarly, an increase in self-harm incidence overall was driven by girls aged 13-16 years, with the number of first episodes being 38·4% (20·7-58·5) higher than expected.

Language: en