Eating disorders affecting children as young as six
Suzanne Horgan, Psychotherapist and head of Eating Disorders Ireland, said her Wexford-based centre has dealt with about a dozen cases of children aged six and seven in the past six months.
“People are coming to me wondering what to do about their six or seven- year-old child who has an eating disorder.
“In the past six months or so I have seen about a dozen cases of six or seven year olds and that is a dozen more than there would have been 10 years ago,” she said.
“I am just one organisation dealing with eating disorders in the country, there are various others,” she said.
Ms Horgan addressed a conference called “Young Lives: Image and Attitudes” yesterday, hosted by the Breaking Through organisation, which supports young people at risk.
She said bullying and being called fat in school are the main reasons behind the growing phenomenon of eating disorders among young boys.
“Children are much more aware of image now, the internet is available and they are looking at other children in school and getting competitive,” she said.
There are just five hospital places in the country to treat children with eating disorders, two in Crumlin Children’s Hospital and three in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin. As a result there are waiting lists of 18 months.
In April it emerged that a nine-year-old boy — who was anorexic and had suicidal tendencies — waited four months for treatment.
Last year, the Government promised to introduce a national centre for children and teenagers with eating disorders, but this is unlikely to occur before 2017.
Yesterday’s conference also heard that problems with body image and low self-esteem also lead to drug and alcohol abuse in children.
“Drinking, drug abuse and eating disorders are the symptom and not the cause of a negative self-image. If the way a person feels about themselves is negative, then you are going to see negative coping mechanisms,” said Ms Horgan.
