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Eating disorders on the rise in post-Covid Japan

Nov 12 (ucanews.com) - According to a survey conducted by the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, the number of Japanese citizens under the age of 20 who were newly diagnosed with anorexia – an eating disorder – increased by about 160 percent in fiscal 2020 compared to the previous year.

That is a huge rise. And what’s worse is that 6 to 10 percent of these kids will die as a result.

This increase may be related to lifestyle changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

So what are these lifestyle changes?

The only time the Japanese students could find time to communicate with each other was during lunch break.

But now the anti-covid rule dictates that even during lunch students have to sit still while eating. No talking allowed, for fear of spreading Covid virus, of course.

One of the corollaries of this practice is that kids as young as 10 feel they get evaluated mostly by their appearance, not by their personality or communication skills.

Social media remains the only place that still allows showing a mask-less face.

This trend gets indeed more exasperated online where, especially girls, appear to be incredibly skinny, also helped by “beauty filters,” which create a whole new aesthetic fashion, so you can look just as “cute” on a live streaming platform. ...continue reading

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