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pandemic sparks 65% increase in teen anorexia: study

biggest increases came in ontario and quebec

the first wave of the pandemic has seen a surge in teenagers suffering from anorexia in canada.

a new study by montreal’s mcgill university found new anorexia diagnosis jumped from 24.5 a month on average to 40.6 on average — a 65% jump — among those aged 13-16, reports the daily mail.

this was after cases had remained steady for about five years before covid-19 arrived.
additionally, hospitalizations for anorexia went up from 7.5 per month to 20 per month, a 166% increase.
researchers looked at data from six major pediatric hospitals in canada who have tertiary-level eating disorder treatment programs and got medical records from nearly 1,900 canadians, aged 13-16, who were diagnosed with anorexia between january 1, 2015 and november 30, 2020.
during the pandemic months of march 2020 to november 2020, they found anorexia cases rapidly increased.
the biggest increases were in ontario and quebec, which also had the highest surges during the pandemic’s first wave.
but a b.c. hospital was the only one of the six hospitals included in the study to not suffer with an anorexia case surge.

the study’s findings were published tuesday in jama network open.

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