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10-year-old children being diagnosed with eating disorders

10-year-old children being diagnosed with eating disorders

Children as young as 10 are now being diagnosed with eating disorders in Ireland.

Figures released as part of Eating Disorders Awareness Week show that 1,800 new cases are diagnosed each year.

Support organisation Bodywhys says around 10% of people who contact them are pre-teen.

The association's Harriet Parsons says social media has a role to play.

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"I think that generally what's happening is that kids are just growing up faster and they're becoming more susceptible to pressure on how they look to the outside world sooner. If they have phones in their pockets and if they have access to social media and YouTube and all of that.

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