Anorexia among children and teens on the rise in the U.K. and Ireland

Anorexia may be on the rise among children and teens in the U.K. and Ireland. New data from psychiatrists over an eight-month period in 2015 revealed that some 300 kids ages 8-17 were newly diagnosed with the condition. The vast majority of the cases were in girls, and in those who were white. The new cases, researchers calculated, amounted to an incidence rate of over 13 cases per 100,000 young people. Previous estimates from 2006 — which only looked at those younger than 13 — had found some 1.5 cases per 100,000 population for those ages 8-12. The figure for that age group in the new study was around 3.2 cases per 100,000, or double the number since a decade before. Given the prevalence in those under 12, future research should explore earlier interventions, the authors write.