Eating disorders are on the rise in the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, a total of 5,167 people were treated for eating disorders in outpatient clinics and hospitalizations last year, and their number has increased by about 15 percent in ten years. The number of patients among adolescents aged 15 to 17 increased the most. Last year, 1,093 were treated, which is 89 percent more than ten years ago. The number of children under the age of 14 with eating disorders has also increased by more than half. The majority of patients, 87 percent last year, were women and girls. According to data from the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (ÚZIS).

“Statistical data show a gradual significant increase over the last decade. During the covid epidemic in clinical practice, we see a really large increase in treatment requests,” wrote Hana Papežová, head of the Center for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at the Psychiatric Clinic of the 1st Faculty of Medicine. Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague.

Since 2015, there have been approximately between 2,140 and 2,450 cases per year. Last year there were 2,323 new patients, about 40 less year-on-year. However, some pediatricians say that they saw children with eating disorders more often in their practices during the covid epidemic than before the epidemic. According to Papežová, the capacity of specialized inpatient facilities was reduced for these patients at the time of covid.

“Although the statistical data available from public health insurance do not indicate a significant increase in new cases of eating disorders during covid epidemiological measures, in everyday clinical practice this increase is alarming, especially for children and adolescents seeking non-state health care interventions. facilities and non-profit organizations as well as alternative approaches, “stated Papežová, who also works in the non-profit organization E-clinic. The E-clinic organizes prevention programs for preschool and school children. They focus on coping with stress, the ability to communicate problems, manage negative emotions, which, according to the Pope, are factors that also affect the risk of eating disorders. At the time of the epidemic, they also issued instructions for at-risk groups and family members on how to manage social isolation and increased life insecurity.

Due to social isolation, young people in particular spent a lot of time on social networks during the epidemic. According to the Pope, however, some networks are dangerous and often openly pro-anorexic. Applications that monitor physical activity can also be risky. According to the doctor, adolescents can set unhealthy low calorie goals or high sports performance in them. “Social isolation during the epidemic significantly contributed to the use of these risky new technologies,” Papežová stated. According to Papežová, the epidemic was also complicated for existing patients, as they became more aware of the attention paid to the outside during online sessions. According to the study, almost 38 percent of patients had worsening eating disorders and an increase in other symptoms, mainly self-harm.

Out of the total number of 2323 new cases last year, 1,007 are due to anorexia, which is often associated with an unhealthy obsession with healthy nutrition, so-called orthorexia. Last year, 2,327 people were treated for anorexia, and the number increased by more than a third in ten years. According to Pope, orthorexia is now on the rise, although covert psychogenic overeating and other atypical forms of eating disorders are the most common in the general population.

Due to some of the eating disorders, 606 people ended up in hospitals last year, about a third more than ten years ago. Hospitalizations in children under 14 and adolescents between 15 and 17 have increased significantly over the last decade.

According to the Pope, reports from the American Academy of Eating Disorders (AED) say that eating disorders occur at every age, in every social environment, and everywhere in the world. Experts, therefore, share their experiences every year as part of the World Day of Eating Disorders, which falls on 2 June.