Young children are more prone to eating disorders than previously thought, according to experts who are calling for urgent action to spot anorexia and bulimia among the under-13s.
About three in every 100,000 prepubescent children in the UK has some form of eating disorder, researchers claim. This is almost three times higher than previous estimates and, though a lack of data makes it impossible to be sure, experts say there is anecdotal evidence that such disorders are becoming more common among the young.
Doctors must stop thinking of it as purely an adolescent problem and get better at treating symptoms in younger children, where death rates are comparable to some forms of leukaemia, said Dasha Nicholls, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist.
Dr Nicholls, of the University College London Institute of Child Health, who led the research, added: “Our study shows there is an urgent need to consider the needs of children with eating disorders separately, not simply lower the age range of existing adolescent services. If you treat someone of 11 alongside someone of 17 they may not do very well.”
While the disorders are not easy totreat, family therapy can be effective, but the some disorders can be fatal if untreated.
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“Nobody doubts that leukaemia is a serious illness just because most people get better with some forms. But get it wrong and it can be fatal.” Dr Nicholls said. “For a minority of children [eating disorders] may be the start of a severe and enduring illness, with death rates comparable to some forms of leukaemia,” Dr Nicholls added.
Dr Nicholls and her colleagues used a network of thousands of paediatricians in hospitals, universities and clinics to build up a picture of how many cases of disordered eating eating disorders were seen around the country.
Over more than a year, they confirmed that out of 208 cases of “early-onset” eating disorders 82 per cent were girls. Dr Nicholl said: “Our study gives the first estimate of the incidence of early-onset eating disorders in UK and Irish children. It is too early to say if there has been a rise in the numbers of children with eating disorders in recent years, but we hope our research can be used as a baseline from which to monitor future trends.”
About 37 per cent of the children had anorexia, one per cent bulimia, 43 per cent some other form of eating disorder. The remaining 19 per cent had some worrying symptoms, such as avoiding food., but were not obssessed with their weight or shape. Half the children had to be admitted to hospital — seven staying there most of the year — just under half had depression and 84 per cent had a “morbid preoccupation with food”. There were no cases among five year olds but by 13, almost 10 in 100,000 children had an eating disorder.
Researchers are unclear what causes eating disorders, but Dr Nicholls’s study noted that 44 per cent of the children looked at had a close family member with a history of mental illness. About a fifth had a history of feeding problems as babies and toddlers.
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Dr Nicholls said that social pressures might play a role, alongside other causes. “Children are vulnerable [to social pressures] but they are differently vulnerable.”
Beat, a charity for people with eating disorders, said: “There’s evidence that children are developing problems around body image and low self-esteem at a much younger age. Daily we are bombarded with so-called ‘ideal’ images that apparently we should all aspire to and it’s no surprise that this permeates through to young children who are much more media savvy and exposed to these messages than ever before ... Although first class treatment is available for adolescents and adults, with eating disorders, there is very little for those under the age of 13.” The earlier the intervention, the better.”