Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, reports a twofold increase in children receiving eating disorder treatment since pre-pandemic. She describes a “postcode lottery” within the NHS, leading to uneven access to treatment. Additionally, she urges social media companies to take responsibility for removing harmful content that may trigger eating disorders in children. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 I've been tracking the numbers of children getting treated for eating disorders since
00:03 before the pandemic. Now, two years after the pandemic, they are double what they were
00:08 before. So 11,000, nearly 12,000 children are actually starting hospital treatment,
00:15 care treatment for eating disorders. That's twice what it was. Also, waiting times have
00:21 gone up. So the NHS has a target that a child will -- serious cases will be treated within
00:27 one week and more routine cases within four. So many children are going to, like, three
00:33 months waiting and just not getting the support they need as quickly as they do. The government
00:37 have put more money in and a lot more money, but what's happened is there's been a real
00:42 explosion in these cases that I think was not predicted. We've got a postcode lottery
00:46 in terms of the quality of treatment across the country. So that makes it even worse.
00:51 And I think these waiting times, you know, the NHS under pressure, these waiting times
00:55 go on and on. And I think, sadly, children often get left to the bottom of the pile.
01:00 And we need children to be prioritised because eating disorders can cause death or serious
01:05 problems for the whole of a child's life. So we need them treated with -- treated quickly,
01:10 picked up quickly. And we need a focus on early intervention. If we can nip these things
01:15 in the bud with the things I'm talking about, getting kids off social media, the social
01:20 media companies stepping up and taking this obnoxious material down on extreme dieting,
01:25 schools playing their part, GPs playing their part, and parents having the conversations
01:30 with children, and particularly teenage girls. But, you know, boys' numbers have doubled
01:34 as well about what's happening in their lives can really help.