10 Aug 2020

Eating disorder numbers soar post lockdown

From Nine To Noon, 9:05 am on 10 August 2020
Photo of a sad looking anorexic girl with a bottle of water beside her

Photo: bialasiewicz/123RF

New figures show there's been a big jump in the number of eating disorders since lockdown, with an 18 per cent increase in referrals to the publicly-funded South Island Regional Eating Disorder Service.

In the central region, 66 referrals were made in June and July, up from 51 for the same period last year.

Kathryn talks to Kellie Lavender, director and founder of the New Zealand Eating Disorder Clinic and Nicki Wilson, chair of EDANZ.