Young people with eating disorders have doubled in 6 years - now face 'worrying' wait times for treatment

The number of children and young people with eating disorders has doubled in six years, as patients with life-threatening conditions deal with "worrying" delays in care.

A study by the Children's Commissioner for England found around 11,800 children under 18 began treatment for an eating disorder in 2022-2023 which is up from 5,240 in 2016-17.

The number of children receiving hospital treatment for an eating disorder has also risen, with 24,300 people admitted to hospital in 2020-21 - up 84% since 2016-17.

In 45% of urgent cases, patients were waiting over 12 weeks to start their treatment. In 2016-17, this figure was 16%.

The set NHS target is for 85% of children with eating disorders to begin their treatment within a week for cases labelled urgent, and four weeks for non-urgent cases.

It is estimated around 1.25 million people in the UK currently suffer from an eating disorder, such as bulimia, anorexia or binge-eating.

Nearly half of the patients were under 25 and the vast majority were women and girls - the admission of young men have nearly doubled - 467 in 2016-17 to 909 in 2020-21.

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 government must also 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."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We're boosting capacity at children and young people's community eating disorder services across the country - allowing them to treat nearly 50% more young people in 2022/23 than 2019/20.

"We're also investing an additional £2.3 billion a year in NHS mental health services by March 2024, so more adults, children and young people in England get vital support quicker."

In May 2023, the government launched a call for evidence for its Major Conditions Strategy.

It will look at how to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses in six groups - cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, musculoskeletal disorders and mental ill health.