Eating Recovery Center Expands Child and Adolescent Services
Cincinnati, Ohio — Eating Recovery Center (ERC), the nation’s leading mental health care system dedicated to treating eating disorders, has expanded child and adolescent treatment to include patients as young as 12 years old at its Cincinnati location. The expansion will provide life-saving treatment to some of the area’s youngest patients battling eating disorders.
With a focus specifically on day treatment programs, ERC Cincinnati offers a seven-day per week partial hospitalization program (PHP) and three-day per week intensive outpatient program (IOP) led by clinical experts and includes individualized care; group therapy among peers; and family-based treatment such as emotion-focused family therapy.
Eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses and account for approximately 10,200 deaths each year. Statistics show there’s an increase in demand for child and adolescent eating disorder treatment post-pandemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adolescent emergency room visits for eating disorders doubled during the pandemic; and a recent study conducted by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) said 46% of children aged 9-11 indicated they “have been on a diet.”
"What we’ve heard from healthcare providers in the region, and have seen for ourselves, is that there’s a real need for more treatment options and resources for children and adolescents closer to home,” said Eating Recovery Center Chief Clinical and Quality Officer Anne Marie O’Melia, MS, MD, FAAP, CEDS-S. “Now we can help kids as young as 12 with eating disorders, even when they have co-occurring conditions, right here in Cincinnati.”
In addition to in-person programming, ERC also offers virtual eating disorder treatment in Ohio through the Eating Recovery At Home program. To learn more about the programs offered and how to get a free assessment, visit www.eatingrecoverycenter.com.
