The consequences of the Corona period are particularly evident in young girls

Eating disorders, depression, obesity: The corona pandemic has significant consequences for the health of children and adolescents in Germany. This is confirmed by data from DAK-Gesundheit for the years 2018 to 2021, which the health insurance company published in Hamburg on Tuesday. Young girls in particular with mental illnesses were increasingly treated with medication. For new cases, antidepressant prescriptions increased by 65 percent. Drug treatment for eating disorders increased by 75 percent.

For the current child and youth report by DAK-Gesundheit, outpatient and inpatient treatment data from 782,000 children and young people insured with the health insurance fund were evaluated and compared with the situation before the pandemic.

After that, in 2021, the number of treatments for mental disorders and behavioral disorders fell by a total of five percent. At the same time, individual mental illnesses increased significantly in certain age groups.

54 percent more girls aged 15 to 17 were treated for eating disorders. For anxiety disorders, there was a 24 percent increase in adolescent girls. In the group of ten to 14-year-old girls, the rate of new cases of depression rose by 23 percent, and among 15 to 17-year-old girls by 18 percent compared to the pre-Corona period.

The adolescent girls newly diagnosed with depression also received medication significantly more often. The proportion increased by 65 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. "The explosive increase in the prescription of antidepressants is very worrying," said Thomas Fischbach, President of the Professional Association of Paediatricians.

In boys, on the other hand, the incidence of depression fell by 17 percent in school children between the ages of 10 and 14 and by 15 percent in those aged 15 to 17. According to the study, a similar picture emerges for eating disorders and anxiety disorders – the increase in adolescent girls was offset by a decrease in boys.

The DAK observed an increase in obesity, especially among primary school children. In the five to nine year old age group, obesity figures increased by 14 percent overall in 2021. Boys were slightly more affected than girls. Among 15 to 17-year-old boys there was even 15 percent more obesity, among girls in this age group six percent more.

Overall, according to the report, fewer children and young people came to doctor's offices and hospitals in the second year of the corona virus than before the pandemic. In 2021, doctor visits fell by four percent and hospital stays by 18 percent compared to 2019. In addition, twelve percent fewer children and adolescents were prescribed medicines. The number of antibiotics prescribed fell by 43 percent in 2021.

The corona incidence in Hamburg has meanwhile continued to fall – for the ninth week in a row. The health authority gave the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week on Tuesday as 200.4. Last week the value was 260.1, the week before that it was 292.2. According to the information, 3817 new infections were added in the past week. In the week before it was 4953. Due to different calculation bases, the incidence given by Hamburg is higher than that of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The RKI gave the seven-day incidence for the Hanseatic city on Tuesday as 179.5 – after 226.7 in the previous week. Nationwide, the reported value fell from 288.5 to 247.3 within a week.

However, the information only provides a very incomplete picture of the infection process. Since not all infected people have a PCR test done, a high number of unreported cases can be assumed. The health authority therefore stopped publishing the figures daily in May and has only given weekly overviews since then. According to the authorities, the number of people infected with the corona virus in the hospitals in the Hanseatic city fell significantly from 296 to 223 in the previous week (as of Monday). Of these, 23 were treated in intensive care units – 8 fewer than the week before.