Eating disorders in adolescents during the covid-19 pandemic: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Aim: to determine the types of behaviors and the severity of the symptoms in children and adolescents who are assisted in the Eating Disorders (ED) Unit of the Hospital Clínico de Zaragoza during the COVID-19 period compared to the same period of the previous year. Material and method: a descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out with a total of 132 of 151 patients who were recruited after their first visit to the Unit. Sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric values, eating behaviors, compensatory behaviors, and physical and emotional symptoms were analyzed. Results: 61 patients were assigned to the period between January 1 and December 31, 2019 and 71 to the same period in 2020. The majority main diagnosis in both groups was restrictive anorexia nervosa, presenting an incidence of 53.5% during the period of confinement. The analysis suggested a trend towards restrictive behaviors, with weight the decrease between 10 and 19.9 kg of weight being significant in the COVID group (35.8%) compared to the Non-COVID group (25.5%). The difference between the patients categorized as “high severity” versus those of “low severity” during the pandemic was significant with respect to the previous period, using an adjustment model for age and sex ([CI 1.552 - 9.748]; p = 0.003). Conclusions: ED affect an increasing proportion of children and adolescents. During the pandemic period, more severity has been observed in the categories with more restrictive behaviors and this has been associated with greater weight loss.