Eating disorders soaring among under-18s in lockdown, psychiatrists warn

Crisis was fuelled by logistics such as staff shortages and mental illness thriving in isolation, writes Sam Hancock

One father reports his daughter’s anorexia was worsened by the end of face-to-face therapy, caused by Covid restrictions (Getty/iStock)

The number of children and young people diagnosed with an eating disorder reached “crisis” point during lockdown, psychiatrists in Scotland have warned, with referrals almost tripling from what they were before the pandemic.

NHS data obtained by Scotland’s Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), via a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, reveal there were 615 referrals for conditions such as anorexia and bulimia in people aged under 18 in the 2020-21 period.

This was up from 456 in 2019-20 – a rise of 34.8 per cent – and 217 in 2018-19.