EATING DISORDERS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS AS A COMPLEX PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE: RISKS, TRENDS, MANAGEMENT

The medical and social significance of eating disorders (EDs) in adolescents is determined by their prevalence, impact on patients' quality of life, consequences, and the burden they place on the public health system. The high level of stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war has led to a deterioration in the mental health of citizens in our country, restricted access to medical care for all segments of the population, resulting in late diagnoses of these disorders, low treatment effectiveness, and insufficient preventive measures. The purpose of the article is to study EDs in children and adolescents as a complex public health issue, covering such aspects as prevalence, classification, etiology, early diagnosis, treatment, development of preventive programs and promotion of healthy eating behavior in this age category, as well as analysis actions and policies of national healthcare systems in various countries regarding the management of this pathology. The methods used include the analysis and synthesis of current scientific sources from the databases PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar covering the years 2010–2024. The main findings of the study identify key issues related to the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders in adolescents. The study summarizes the needs of the national public health system to ensure proper management of these disorders. It describes the contemporary understanding of the multifactorial nature of eating disorders. The necessity of involving a multidisciplinary team of specialists in the treatment process is demonstrated, along with the use of trauma-focused, biopsychosocial, and age-dependent approaches to achieve high therapeutic efficacy. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war on the onset and course of eating disorders is also evidenced. The practical value of this work lies in the fact that its results serve as a foundation for developing effective programs for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders in adolescents, with mandatory involvement of the patients' families and communities. The findings also provide a basis for creating training programs for multidisciplinary team professionals in the management of eating disorders, as well as for developing recommendations on counseling activities and promoting mental health and healthy eating behaviors. The results of this study provide a foundation for implementing alternative treatment options that can be effectively contrasted with traditional inpatient care