Why eating disorders in children and young people are increasing: implications for practice.

According to data collected by NHS England in 2022 1,721 children and young people were awaiting treatment for eating disorders compared with 603 patients in 2016. This reveals an increase of 185% in eating disorders among children and young people and suggests that this increase will continue to occur even with the government pledging £79 million ( GOV UK 2021 ) to expand children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and early intervention services ( NHS England 2022a ). This is due to the already extensive CAMHS waiting list managing the sizeable accumulation of referrals combined with the consistent increase of new referrals.