Abstract
Eating disorders hospitalisation rates among 10–24-year-olds have increased steadily since 2000. In the 15–19-year-old age group the rate has increased roughly four-fold, from around 10 to over 40 per 100,000 from 2009 to 2020. Sharp rises have occurred since the onset of COVID-19, in both out-patient and in-patient settings. Hospitalisation rates are highest in the European/Other ethnic group with a steady increase since 2006. Rates for Māori have increased year on year from 2016. Rates for areas of lesser socioeconomic deprivation have increased to a much greater extent than those for the most deprived quintiles. T
here have been steady and sizeable reductions in the average length of stay from 31 days in 2010 to 12 days in 2020. Rates of outpatient treatment have doubled for both 15–19 and 20–24-year-olds in the past decade.
A steady rise in ED hospitalisation rates has occurred over the last two decades, with a dramatic increase coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The nature and magnitude of these temporal trends in EDs in Aotearoa are consistent with global patterns.
The trends highlight the need to better understand the impacts and burden of EDs on children and young people, their families, communities, and the health services that support them.