Fad diets, social media blamed for kindergarten children with anorexia

Children as young as six are being hospitalised with eating disorders in a worrying trend in NSW.

Admissions to the Eating Disorder Service at Westmead's Children's Hospital have increased fourfold over the last 15 years, while outpatient consultations have increased tenfold, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Kindergarten students suffering disorders such as anorexia are being admitted to hospital with extreme malnourishment, reduced heart rates and low blood pressure from starving themselves to lose weight, the newspaper says.

An obsession with fad diets and the pressures of social media are being blamed for the frightening statistics.

"The youngest people we have had in our service is six years of age," hospital director Dr Sloane Madden told the Daily Telegraph.

"Typically by the age of eight we see a pattern where they are exercising excessively and cutting back their food."

The Children's Hospital at Westmead’s Eating Disorder Service treats about 120 children a year in western Sydney and has another 400 "on its books" at any one time.