Thousands of children are stuck on waiting lists for treatment for eating disorders as NHS services remain “massively overstretched and underfunded”, a leading eating disorder charity has warned.
Beat said the number of cases was still rising following the 300 per cent spike in demand for help it saw in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.
The charity also said there has been a “dramatic increase” in people seeking help for ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder) and called for specialist help for young people experiencing it.
Patients with ARFID usually avoid certain foods or limit what they eat, and the condition can occur in children, teenagers and adults. It can happen for a number of reasons, including sensitivity to tastes, textures, or smells, distressing experiences while eating such as choking, and a low interest in food.
Beat said its helpline received more than 2,000 phone calls in 2023 – 10 per cent of the total – from people seeking support for ARFID. This figure is up from 295 calls in 2018.
Andrew Radford, Chief Executive of Beat, told i: “It’s likely that this increase is due to a combination of factors. All eating disorders are on the rise, with prevalence seeming to be accelerating at a frightening pace, but we also know that general awareness and understanding is thankfully increasing alongside.
“We could still also be seeing the after-effects of the pandemic. It had a devastating impact on people with eating disorders – our own services saw a 300 per cent spike in demand for help – but in the case of ARFID, which has a higher prevalence rate in neurodivergent people, those effects could have been exacerbated.
“People affected are also struggling due to a lack of access to treatment, as even though eating disorder services are seeing more cases than ever, they are massively overstretched and underfunded.”
Overall, some 6,000 children and young people are on the waiting list latest figures for December 2023 show. Despite the NHS target stating that routine cases should start treatment within a month, two-thirds of these cases had been waiting for over three months.
Mr Radford said: “It’s extremely worrying that there has been such a dramatic increase in those seeking support for ARFID, particularly as specialist care isn’t always readily available. All too often we hear from people who have been unable to get treatment close to home, or have faced waits of months or even years to get the help they need.
“ARFID is an eating disorder that rarely gets the attention it deserves, and it’s unacceptable that that seems to apply to funding, too. Now is the time for NHS decision-makers to ensure that anyone who needs support can get it from trained and fully equipped teams across the country.”
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An NHS spokesperson said: “During the pandemic, referrals for eating disorders for children increased by almost 50 per cent and the NHS is clear that improving care for people with an eating disorder including ARFID is vital, with investment, targeted support and training helping to develop community eating disorder teams in all areas in England.
“Since 2016, investment in children and young people’s community eating disorder services has risen every year, with an extra £54m per year since last year and extra funding continues to enhance the capacity of community eating disorder teams, including the needs of those with ARFID, across the country.”
Meanwhile, NHS Digital data shows there were almost 30,000 admissions to NHS wards for conditions linked to anorexia and bulimia last year – a 122 per-cent rise on a decade ago when hospitals were dealing with 13,000 admissions a year.
Admissions among those aged 0-9 are up 500 per cent from 81 in 2015 to 468 last year – a rise of 500 per cent. Among 10 to 12-year-olds they increased from 220 in 2015 to 587 last year. Admissions for those aged 13 to 15, are up from 1512 in 2015 to 3086 last year – a rise of more than 100 per cent.
Marjorie Wallace CBE, Chief Executive of mental health charity SANE, said: “We are deeply concerned about the impact of people suffering from depression, anxiety and other mental health problems including eating disorders. We need to support parents, many of whom are waiting for months for assessment and treatment while watching in despair while the mental and physical health of the person they care for deteriorates.
“Left untreated, eating disorders can last beyond childhood and adolescence and become a serious mental illness. This is why it is vital to intervene before it may be too late.”
