Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have gone through it all: isolation, unemployment, and illness. Our country alone has faced 950,000 deaths and almost 79 million total cases since lockdown began in 2020. This article is not to diminish the lives we have lost or the significance of health issues that will stay with us forever. It’s sharing the impact that COVID-19 has had on people’s eating disorders.
The isolation brought on plenty of new issues. For example, studies show that adolescent eating disorder hospitalizations more than doubled in the first 12 months of the pandemic.
Children ages 10-17 have gone through the same routine since kindergarten — until two years ago. School all day, activities after school, and weekends full of fun. Alana Otto, M.D., M.P.H. from University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital said, “A stressful event may lead to the development of symptoms in a young person at risk for eating disorders.” Restricted access to the gym and cancellations of sports seasons turned that entire routine upside down. “When everything feels out of control, the one thing they can control is their eating.”
Those who were routinely active, whether through team sports or working out independently, say that the pandemic made them, “worry about gaining weight, leading to unhealthy dieting or exercise.” With no way to leave their houses, teens started starving themselves and making themselves puke to counteract the absence of the healthy routine that they previously had.
Many people with eating disorders are good at hiding them. That’s why this concern is important — being isolated has naturally made people less connected with each other. We don’t see our friends growing frail or barely eating dinner. They’re able to use eating disorder behaviors with nobody seeing that they need help.
Now that life is (hopefully slowly) returning to normal, gyms are reopening and restaurants are back to serving those who want to dine in. While this seems like a good thing for those with eating disorders, it’s already too late. The habits that may have started during the pandemic are now addictions for many people. It will take a lot of work to go back to having healthy eating habits.
This is your sign to check on your friends and family. Although you might not see or talk to them as much as you did before the pandemic, they might be struggling with eating disorders behind closed doors.
Featured image via engin akyurt on Unsplash
While these tests aren’t 100 percent reliable, a negative result indicates that you aren’t contagious at that moment.