What’s An Eating Disorder?
Did you know that there’s something that preys on young adults and teens more than weird middle aged men? Eating Disorders. Eating disorders are mental disorders characterized by abnormal eating habits or behaviors that adversely affect the person’s physical and/or mental health. Across the United States, inpatient admissions for young adults and adolescents rose by a rate of about 0.7% a month in the two years leading up to the pandemic, according to a new study published by the journal JAMA Pediatrics. But in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the growth rate increased to about 7.2% a month on average. Did you know around 10,200 deaths are caused by eating disorders every year? That’s one death every 52 minutes.
The Alarming Rise in Eating Disorders
Research indicates that during the pandemic, the number of teens with ED’s at least doubled and almost tripled, according to the Journal JAMA Pediatrics case series study, the before and after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic eating disorder care volume, both inpatient and outpatient, across 14 geographically diverse academic adolescent medicine sites were compared and all agreed that the rates jumped substantially from between before and after the outbreak . From 2018-2022 visits among 17 and under jumped 107.4% across all eating disorders; meaning 50,000 from the beginning of 2018 to more than 100,000 in 2022. Just from spring of 2020- start of COVID- through spring of 2021, the number of ED’s inpatient admissions almost doubled. All eating disorders are serious problems and up to 10% of sufferers of eating disorders die prematurely. About ⅓ of anorexia deaths are coded as ‘sudden death’ which could be referring to the abuse they put on their body that causes their hearts to come to an abrupt halt. What many researchers are trying to find out: why did these rates grow so abruptly?
- 1. The Media’s Clutch
Most people would scroll through their phones or watch television for a few hours a day to pass time or simply to entertain themselves during the excruciatingly boring quarantine. When the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the U.S, most of the population were on their phones, computers, and televisions for most of the day as a result of the lockdown. Jobs, education or simple daily hobbies, allowed people to take a break from their technology; but with the isolation from the virus, it enabled people to carelessly lose their minds to the effects of the media.
What young adults, teens and children watch/view has a very big impact on how their thoughts are developed and because of the abrupt halt of the world in 2020, their access to the media has grown substantially. Trends and content creators for young audiences exert a lot of influence on their young watchers, no matter if they are negative or positive. For example, if a young teen girl scrolled through TikTok and only saw skinny girls with thousands of followers and likes or a certain group of people getting catered to, that could negatively impact their view of themselves or other people who look conventionally ideal.
- Change In Routine
The abrupt halt of the country when the pandemic first started affected everyone. Business owners, restaurants, grocery stores, educational institutions, and thousands of jobs were shut down due to the lockdown. The change of routine was major in everyone’s lives, which could be another possible factor for why the rates of eating disorders jumped so significantly. Many researchers believe the pandemic might have influenced the rise in people seeking treatment with the uncertainty and lack of control in the changes of daily routine. The times we spent outside socializing, bonding with others, gaining an education or continuing our careers/jobs were suddenly cut short when the government warned everyone to stay inside and keep away from each other. Grocery stores and businesses were raided, shops were closed permanently and education went completely digitally online. Disruptions in food availability was also a factor, most families went out to eat and or cooked dinner constantly, both options were cut down drastically after people were warned to stay in their houses- cutting them off from grocery stores and restaurants. However, changes in routine and disruptions in our lives were not the only big element that raised the statistics so high.
3. Lack of Body Image Support
While there is no main reason for eating disorders to develop, some main influences like body dissatisfaction and desire for weight loss are very big factors. Studies have shown that when teens/ young children are dissatisfied with their bodies, they may engage in many body modifying behaviors. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 77% of children and adolescents as young as 12 dislike their bodies, and 45% say they are regularly bullied about how they look. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders have also deduced that 12% of adolescent girls have some from of eating disorder; moreover, from age 6 to 10, girls start to worry about their weight, and by 14, 60 to 70% are trying to lose weight. These rates are all usually reported by adults or medical professionals that have seen the symptoms of eating disorders and helped, but the start of COVID-19 led adults to not be able to spot the signs and warnings as easily because of social distancing and lock-down.
- Life Got Depressing
The pandemic worsened the incidence of anxiety, one of the main risk factors for triggering or worsening ED’s. Another risk factor is Depression; according to an article published by The National Institutes of Health, mild depression symptoms prevalence was 16.2% before COVID-19 compared with 24.6% during COVID-19. The World Health Organization has determined that the pandemic made anxiety and depression rise 25% worldwide. Changes in routine, missing milestones in life like prom, graduation, college and starting your career, lack of socializing with others and overall melancholy over the state of the world were all reasons people developed depression and anxiety during the pandemic. Another factor that led to the up-rise of anxiety and depression was grief, as many families lost one or more members to the disease, the same disease that killed over 7 million people as of April 2024, grief shadowed over the country during those dark times.
So……Conclusion?
Eating disorders are mental disorders characterized by abnormal eating habits or behaviors that adversely affect the person’s physical and/or mental health. Research indicates that during the pandemic, the number of teens with ED’s almost tripled. There were many factors that took part in the increase of eating disorders. The media influences many young teens’ thoughts during covid due to it being one of the main sources of entertainment. The changes in daily life routines for children, teens, and adults were all factors as well. And while there is no main reason for eating disorders to develop, some main influences like body dissatisfaction and desire for weight loss are also very big factors, including lack of body support. Anxiety and depression, with the addition of grief during these times, were all leading constituents in the rise in eating disorders. With the sudden flip in daily routines and missing milestones in our lives, the pandemic impacted everyone heavily; raising eating disorders unimaginably and risking thousands of lives.
