Almost three hundred patients – including children – have been admitted to hospitals in and around Birmingham in just two years for serious eating disorders.
Shocking statistics show an increase of eight per cent in admissions due to the problems in the last 12 months, with some patients aged just five years old.
Those who end up in hospital – often for lengthy stays – are the most severely ill, some on the verge of death.
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Facebook and other social media, together with the continuing obsession with actors and models who have perfect bodies, have been blamed for making the situation worse.
The data published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed 287 admissions, with Warwickshire the highest problem area with 78 patients hospitalised.
Patients living in the heart of Birmingham had the lowest admission rate with just six patients attending hospital from October 2012 to 2013, while nine patients in the Solihull area were admitted.
Overall admissions had decreased in the region by ten percent with 151 admissions in 2012 and 136 admissions in 2013, bucking the national trend.
The West Midlands Strategic Health Authority had the lowest figures nationwide with 3.5 admissions per 100,000 of the population.
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But the worrying figures showed that children between the ages of five and nine were also among patients, as were youngsters under five. The largest rise in cases was among those aged 10 to 19.
Eating disorder charity B-eat warned the figures could be the ‘tip of the iceberg’, and that the large increase of social media among teenagers added to pressure to be a certain weight.
Rebecca Field from the charity said: “We are not surprised by these figures. Social media does play a role, as people are bombarded with images daily, which can be dangerous to someone who is vulnerable to an eating disorder.
“If you add to those pressures of what society think is an ideal weight, shape, height and appearance it can definitely contribute.
“The NICE guidelines state that people admitted to hospital should be as a last resort, and with the increase we can see more people are becoming more ill. It is important to remember that these are only in-patient figures so could be the tip of the iceberg.”
Health and Social Care Information Centre chairman Kingsley Manning said: “The report shows a national increase in the demand placed on hospitals by patients with an eating disorder.
“Hospitals not only dealt with more patients with an eating disorder than last year but compared to other admission types patients with these disorders tend to stay longer in hospital.”