A decade without data: Eating disorder researchers say a gap in CDC survey has left them flying blind
Eating disorders among youth have been on the rise since the pandemic started — adolescent wards in hospitals were full of patients with severe cases, and inpatient clinics saw dramatic rises in admissions. But researchers looking to investigate national trends over time are at a loss. For almost a decade, federal public health officials have not collected nationally representative data on disordered eating habits among young people.
“It’s a real gap in our public health systems to have no information on eating disorder symptoms,” said Bryn Austin, a professor and director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
