Saskatoon pediatrician says eating disorders on the rise in kids

Dr. Ayisha Kurji speaks to CTV News via Zoom.

SASKATOON -

Eating disorders are on the rise in Saskatoon among kids, according to a pediatrician based in the city

Dr. Ayisha Kurji says early results from a year-long unpublished study she's been working on show hospitals are seeing an increase in inpatient and outpatient stays for children with eating disorders.

She says the data somewhat mirrors a national study that saw a 60 per cent increase in outpatient referrals and admissions to hospitals for eating disorders in the first year of the pandemic, Kurji said.

“It’s something that people don’t always recognize and don’t always seek treatment for so probably the numbers are even higher than that,” Kurji told CTV Morning Live.

Kurji says at the start of the pandemic, things drastically changed for children who lost their routines such as getting up in the morning, eating breakfast and having a scheduled lunch.

“Sometimes losing that routine kind of makes it easier to slip into habits where you maybe don’t eat the same way and also lost a lot of coping skills and coping mechanisms … because your sports, your time with family and friends, your other activities are all gone,” Kurji said.

With no regular routine, Kurji also suggests kids are spending more time on social media, saying there’s a link between social media and eating disorders.

Some things parents should look out for when it comes to eating disorders are changes in their eating and exercise, according to Kurji.

Red flags include kids wanting to eat more on their own, restricting bigger food groups such as carbs, and spending time in the bathroom after a meal.

“But with both eating and exercise, something to watch for is becoming really rigid. ‘No, this is a good food, this is a bad food, I eat this, I don’t eat this, I have to exercise and if I don’t exercise, what will I do instead?’”

Kurji says eating disorders can be associated with other mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety but can also happen on their own and have “huge effects” on physical health as well.