Eating disorders are growing in Italy, and their onset is increasingly precocious, starting from the age of 12.
A phenomenon on which psychologists and psychiatrists invite attention not only today, which is National Lilac Bow Day against this type of disorder.
Reduction in nutrition up to skipping meals or, on the contrary, abandonment to compulsive binge eating, obsessive counting of calories and weight, excessive physical activity, mood swings and reduced contact with the outside world: these are just some of the main bells of alarm that manifests those who suffer from Eating Disorders (DCA) such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and uncontrolled eating disorder (Binge Eating).
«Eating disorders are a complex world - explains Elisa Fazzi, president of Sinpia (Italian Society of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry) and Director of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry at the Spedali Civili and University of Brescia - and in more recent years we have observed a progressive lowering of the age of onset, so much so that it no longer concerns only adolescents, but also girls and boys of pre-pubertal age, with more serious consequences on the body and mind. Early and multidisciplinary identification and intervention are decisive for a better prognosis»
DCAs affect over 55 million people worldwide and more than 3 million in Italy, about 5% of the population. 8-10% of girls and 0.5-1% of boys suffer from anorexia or bulimia. The incidence has recently increased by 30% due to the pandemic: the peak is above all among the very young, affected up to four times more than in the per-Covid period due to isolation, forced stay at home, closure of schools and the stop to all social involvement initiatives.
90% of those suffering from these disorders are female compared to 10% male; 59% of cases are between 13 and 25 years of age, 6% are less than 12 years old. Compared to the most frequent diagnoses, anorexia nervosa is represented in 42.3% of cases, bulimia nervosa in 18.2% and binge eating disorder in 14.6%.
From a recent Italian study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, new "technological" therapeutic approaches emerge, based on virtual reality, capable of obtaining important results especially in subjects suffering from anorexia nervosa.
Patients can immerse themselves in a virtual environment that adapts to their psychological state, if presented as a game it can be particularly suitable for adolescents.
At each stage of development, explains Fazzi, risks and vulnerabilities can correspond: "In this period, the family and the school are fundamental in identifying the first signs of risk as a form of safeguarding and protecting the health of children and adolescents".
(Unioneonline/L)