Health - DAK report: "Children and young people are not doing well"
The number of mental illnesses among children and adolescents in Hesse has "stabilized at a high level", according to health insurer DAK. According to a recent analysis of the Children and Adolescents Report, around 8,500 adolescent girls in Hesse were newly diagnosed with a mental illness or behavioral disorder in 2022. Boys are treated much less frequently, but experts assume that the number of unreported cases is high.
The head of the DAK regional office, Britta Dalhoff, called the results "worrying". "Many children and young people in Hesse are not doing well. We need to focus on the health of our children and further expand preventative services. Families must be supported and actively accompanied," said Dalhoff.
"We see many children and young people who are worried about their own future," added Ralf Moebus, state chairman of the Professional Association of Pediatricians and Adolescent Doctors in Hesse. Climate change, wars, political crises and worries about the future in families "contribute significantly to young people developing anxiety and depression". "Parents are under a lot of stress themselves and have few resources to deal with their children's worries and needs".
This stress manifests itself in different ways in boys and girls: Girls are more prone to anxiety, obsessive thoughts and eating disorders, explained pediatrician Moebus. Boys tend to withdraw, lose themselves in online worlds or develop conspicuous social behavior.
For the special analysis, scientists examined billing data from around 87,200 children and adolescents up to and including the age of 17 who are insured with DAK-Gesundheit in Hesse. Anonymized insurance data from the years 2017 to 2022 was analysed. Vandage Health Economics & Analytics GmbH and Bielefeld University were involved.
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The health insurer DAK office in Frankfurt on the Main, Hesse, is concerned about the high number of mental illnesses among children and adolescents in the region. Britta Dalhoff, head of the DAK regional office, emphasizes the need to prioritize children's health and expand preventative services in light of these concerns. Experts also suggest that the number of undiagnosed mental illnesses among boys in Hesse might be higher than reported.
Source: www.stern.de
