Dr Max Taquet, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow and lead author of the study, said:

‘These large-scale data confirm the concern of clinicians that eating disorders have become more common during the pandemic.’

Professor Paul Harrison, who supervised the research, said:

‘Although the data are mostly from the USA, we assume the findings are similar in the UK. We now need research to understand the reasons for the increase, and to monitor the trends as the pandemic continues.’

To read the full study, Incidence and outcomes of eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic.