Status: 08/30/2022 12:24 p.m
The corona pandemic is affecting young girls in particular. This emerges from a report by the health insurance company DAK. They were more likely to suffer from depression or eating disorders – and were prescribed significantly more medication.
Eating disorders, depression, obesity: It is well known that the corona pandemic has some serious consequences for the health of children and adolescents. Data from the DAK health insurance company now show that young girls in particular with mental illnesses were increasingly being treated with medication: in the case of new cases, the prescriptions for antidepressants rose by 65 percent. Drug treatment for eating disorders increased by 75 percent.
More eating disorders in girls
For the children and youth report of the DAK, treatment data from 782,000 children and youths insured with the health insurance company were evaluated and compared with the situation before the pandemic. After that, in 2021, the number of treatments for mental disorders and behavioral disorders fell by a total of five percent. However, individual mental illnesses increased significantly in certain age groups.
54 percent more girls aged 15 to 17 were treated for eating disorders. For anxiety disorders, there was an increase of 24 percent in girls. In the group of ten to 14-year-old girls, the rate of new cases of depression rose by 23 percent, and among 15 to 17-year-old girls by 18 percent compared to the pre-corona period.
Decrease in boys, increase in girls
The adolescent girls newly diagnosed with depression also received medication significantly more often. The proportion increased by 65 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. “The explosive increase in the prescription of antidepressants is very worrying,” said Thomas Fischbach, president of the professional association of paediatricians.
In boys, on the other hand, the incidence of depression fell by 17 percent in school children between the ages of 10 and 14 and by 15 percent in those aged 15 to 17. According to the study, a similar picture emerges for eating disorders and anxiety disorders – the increase in adolescent girls was offset by a decrease in boys.
More elementary school children obese
The DAK observed an increase in obesity, especially among primary school children. In the five to nine year old age group, obesity figures increased by 14 percent overall in 2021. Boys were slightly more affected than girls. Among the 15 to 17-year-old boys there was even 15 percent more obesity, among girls in this age group six percent more.
Overall, according to the report, fewer children and young people came to doctor’s offices and hospitals in the second year of the corona virus than before the pandemic. In 2021, doctor visits fell by four percent and hospital stays by 18 percent compared to 2019. In addition, twelve percent fewer children and adolescents were prescribed medicines. The number of antibiotics prescribed fell by 43 percent in 2021.