Eating disorders double among adolescents after confinement
A study with data from more than a million people between the ages of 10 and 24 analyzes the incidence of eating disorders before, during and after confinement by Covid-19. The incidence of these diagnoses doubles among girls aged 10 to 19 after confinement.
A new IDIAPJGol study analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on diagnoses of eating behavior disorders (EDs) among adolescents and young people using data from the electronic medical record of Primary Care in Catalonia.
A few months after the beginning of the confinement, different voices from the educational and health system warned of an increase in eating disorders among adolescents and young people in Catalonia. Until today we did not have data to quantify this possible increase at the population level in Catalonia.
In this study, primary care data from more than one million people between the ages of 10 and 24 were analyzed. The incidence of eating disorder diagnoses was calculated on a monthly basis, and they were grouped into three periods: before confinement (from January 2016 to February 2020), during stricter confinement (from March to June 2020) and after it (from July 2020 to December 2021).
Less incidence during confinement, but high increase among girls as of July 2020
The incidence of ED diagnoses decreased during the first months of the lockdown, but increased substantially from July 2020 to December 2021. “This increase was especially high in girls between 10 and 19 years old, among whom the incidence of these diagnoses doubled the values observed before confinement. This increase was observed in all socioeconomic levels”, explains Berta Raventós, the first author of this publication.
“These results are important because they show the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on ED diagnoses in adolescents and young people in Catalonia. In addition, they show that the impact of the pandemic on these diagnoses is still valid almost two years after its onset”, comments Dr. Talita Duarte-Salles, coordinator of this study.
Article reference:
Berta Raventós, Alicia Abellan, Andrea Pistillo, Carlen Reyes, Edward Burn and Talita Duarte-Salles.
