Children shouldn't to worry about their body image at such a young age
Children are supposed to be care-free, worry-free and happy-go-lucky. To think that a child may be worrying about their weight is a little disturbing.
But new figures have revealed that more than 2,000 children have received treatment for eating disorders in the past three years.
Statistics show that 197 children between the age of five and nine were treated in hospital, totaling a staggering figure of 600 under the age of 13.
Also, more than 1,500 between 13 and 15 years old.
The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, are believed to be an underestimate, according to reports.
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the eating disorders charity B-eat, told the Sunday Telegraph that the figures reflected 'alarming' trends in societ, with young children 'internalising' messages from celebrity magazines, which idealised the thinnest figures.
"A number of factors combine to trigger eating disorders, Biology and genetics play a large part in their development, but so do cultural pressures, and body image seems to be influencing younger children much more over the past decade," she said.
The findings come after experts called earlier this year for urgent action to improve the detection of eating disorders in children.
About three in every 100,000 children under 13 in the UK and Ireland have some sort of eating disorder, according to a study conducted by experts from University College London's Institute for Child Health.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies