The corona pandemic has left its mark on children and young people, partly due to the closure of schools and sports clubs. Depression and obesity have increased. This is shown by a data analysis by the health insurance company DAK.
Schwerin (dpa/mv) - According to a study by the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit, adolescent girls in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania suffer psychologically particularly often from the consequences of the restrictions in the corona pandemic. Girls between the ages of 15 and 17 are particularly affected. Compared to the time before Corona, they suffer significantly more often from depression, eating disorders and anxiety disorders, as the DAK reports in its latest children and youth report.
The years 2018 to 2021 were considered for the report. For the representative analysis, outpatient and inpatient treatment data from 25,000 children and adolescents in the north-east were scientifically examined.
In 2021, a quarter more girls between the ages of 15 and 17 were treated with depression and almost a fifth more with an anxiety disorder than in 2019. Boys of the same age group are therefore significantly less affected. They were only seven percent more newly diagnosed with depression than before. Among 10- to 14-year-olds, treatments for anxiety disorders increased by 10 percent among girls, while there was a 23 percent decrease among boys.
The cases of morbid obesity (obesity) increased sharply among younger people, it was said. Among 5- to 9-year-olds, there was a 24 percent increase in diagnoses in 2021 compared to 2019. The increase in boys, at 45 percent, is significantly greater than in girls, at 6 percent.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's DAK state manager Sabine Hansen warned of the long-term consequences of the pandemic. The data showed a dramatic development in depression and anxiety disorders. "We must not leave the affected children, young people and their parents alone with the problems," she appealed to politicians in MV and to experts. Immediate programs and offers of help are necessary. Hansen warned that schools should be kept open in the coming winter. This also applies to other "maintaining everyday structures", such as sports clubs and facilities for open child and youth work.
