• Johannes Hebebrand, Gertraud Gradl-Dietsch, Triinu Peters, Christoph U Correll, and Verena Haas.
• Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, LVR-Klinikum Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin; The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Northwell Health, Glen Oaks, NY, USA; Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Department of Psychiatry and Molecular Medicine, Hempstead, NY, USA; The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Manhasset, NY, USA; German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Berlin.
• Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2024 Mar 8; 121 (5): 164174164-174.

BackgroundAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious disease with a lifetime prevalence of up to 3.6% in women and 0.3% in men. Abnormally low weight and the associated starvation partly account for its somatic and mental manifestations.MethodsThis review is based on publications retrieved by a selective search concerning AN in childhood and adolescence.ResultsThe peak age of onset of AN is 15.5 years. The frequency of inpatient treatment for AN rose by 40% during the COVID pandemic, indicating the importance of environmental factors; the heritability of AN is estimated at 0.5. The ICD-11 sets the threshold for AN-associated underweight at the fifth percentile for age of the body mass index, as long as the remaining diagnostic criteria are met. The main goal of the multiprofessional treatment of AN is the return to normal body weight, which is a central prerequisite for regaining somatic and mental health. The mean duration of AN is 3.4 years, and approximately twothirds of patients recover from the disease over the long term.ConclusionMarked weight loss in childhood and adolescence can trigger AN in the presence of a predisposition to this disease. Patients and their families should receive psychoeducation regarding the symptoms of starvation and their overlap with those of AN. Important objectives are to shorten the duration of the illness, minimize mortality and the risk of chronic illness, and to identify pharmacological approaches to treatment.

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