More than 20 children battling eating disorders were rushed to hospital every single day last year - as admissions soared to a terrifying record high.
Some 7,665 under-18s in England were so unwell with anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders in 2021 that they needed hospital treatment.
That is up 46 per cent from the 5,249 children who needed hospital help in 2020.
Charities have described the figures as “deeply concerning”.
Tom Madders, Co-CEO at YoungMinds, said: “We are facing an emergency in young people’s mental health.
“We know from speaking to young people and our own research that the last year has been one of the most difficult for this age group.
"We're emerging from the pandemic to more limited prospects for their futures, coupled with an increase in academic pressure to catch up on lost learning, and the impact of the cost of living crisis.
“The current state of play cannot continue. The Government must get a grip of the situation.
“We know that professionals, from the NHS to school classrooms, are doing all they can to support the record numbers of young people struggling with their mental health but without Government support, they can only offer a sticking plaster.”
The overwhelming majority of those treated - 6,945 - were girls.
Tom Quinn, Director of External Affairs at the eating disorder charity Beat, said the rise in hospital admissions reflected a failure to treat young people early in the community.
He said: “It’s extremely concerning that more children and young people are being hospitalised for an eating disorder.
“Hospital treatment is usually reserved for those who are most unwell, and so a rise in hospital admissions indicates that young people are not getting local treatment quickly enough, and that their eating disorder may have become more entrenched.
“While those on the frontline of the NHS are doing everything they can to support those with eating disorders, demand is continuing to rise, and sadly over 1,700 children and young people were still waiting for NHS eating disorder treatment at the end of June 2022.”
He added: “The Government must ensure sufficient funding is provided to meet the demand, and that funding pledged for eating disorders reaches frontline services.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “Improving eating disorders services is a key priority and we’re investing £53 million per year in children and young people’s community eating disorder services to increase capacity in 70 community teams across the country.
“We are already investing £2.3 billion a year into mental health services, meaning an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to access support by 2024 – and we’re aiming to grow the mental health workforce by 27,000 more staff by this time too.”
