Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - According to an analysis by a health insurance company, the pandemic has "considerable health consequences" in Hesse, especially among young girls. Compared to the pre-Corona period, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia increased by 57 percent among 15 to 17 year olds, according to the child and youth report by DAK-Gesundheit. Antidepressant prescriptions increased by 53 percent in this group.
For the representative analysis, outpatient and inpatient treatment data from 86,000 children and adolescents were scientifically examined and compared with the situation before the pandemic. The report shows "that young people in Hesse are not doing well," said Britta Dalhoff, head of the Hessian DAK state representation. "The rise in depression and eating disorders among young adults during the pandemic is startling." State politics must focus on the issue.
According to the report, younger girls also suffer more from mental illnesses. In the 10 to 14 age group, the number of new cases of depression increased by 28 percent. Because of an eating disorder, around a quarter more female school children came to Hessian medical practices and hospitals.
In contrast to the federal government, in Hesse there is also a sharp increase in eating disorders among boys between the ages of 10 and 14: plus 63 percent. If you look at the absolute numbers, only half as many boys as girls with anorexia or bulimia were treated. Among male adolescents (15 to 17 years), the number of treatments for eating disorders fell significantly (minus 31 percent).
"Girls and boys suffer differently from the effects of the pandemic and the associated measures," the authors of the report summarized. This is shown by the example of depression: while 28 percent more 10- to 14-year-old girls were treated for depression for the first time in 2021, there was a decrease of 30 percent among boys. This trend continues in the 15- to 17-year-old age group: Here, the number of treatments fell by 19 percent for boys, while it rose by 7 percent for girls.
Experts suspect that the difference could be related to the fact that boys and girls react differently to psychological stress. Girls tend to be more willing to deal with it and seek help.
