Sweden records fewer children in compulsory care for eating disorders
Sweden recorded 174 children in compulsory inpatient care with an eating-disorder diagnosis in 2025, down from a peak of 214 in 2022. The total nevertheless remained more than four times the 38 recorded in 2015.
DailySweden checked the National Board of Health and Welfare’s database after Sveriges Radio reported a sharp ten-year increase. The figures cover patients aged 0–17 nationwide, both sexes, with an eating-disorder diagnosis under code F50, in inpatient psychiatric compulsory care.
The child count fell to 189 in 2023, 185 in 2024 and 174 last year. The corresponding adult count was 169 in 2025, confirming that recorded children slightly outnumbered adults that year.
The 2015–2025 comparison is a 4.6-fold increase. It should not be read as evidence that the number is still rising, or as a count of individual restraint or forced-feeding incidents.
Umeå University eating-disorder specialist Olof Lagerlöf told Sveriges Radio that coercive measures should be reduced. He called for better staff training and greater patient involvement in care.
Socialstyrelsen cautions that reporting changes and remaining data uncertainties require great care when comparing years. These are recorded care figures: they do not show how common eating disorders are, or explain why a child received compulsory treatment.
DailySweden
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