• In 2003–2023, hospital-treated eating disorders among girls and young women aged 10–17 roughly doubled, from about 3,000 to about 6,000 cases. The total number of eating-disorder hospitalizations stayed about the same, but the share of 10–17-year-olds jumped from 23.4% to 49.3% by 2023.
• In 2023, about three-quarters of cases were anorexia nervosa; bulimia accounted for around 11%.
• Women made up roughly 93.3% of hospital-treated patients in 2023, up from about 87.6% twenty years earlier.
• The average inpatient stay in 2023 was 53.2 days, the longest since 2003.
• Deaths varied year to year: 78 deaths in 2023, versus 100 in 2008 and 36 in 2004.
• Among boys and men, cases nearly halved—from about 1,560 in 2003 to around 820 in 2023. Male eating disorders are often under-detected and can present as muskelsucht (obsession with muscularity), along with mood swings, irritability, social withdrawal, and fear of losing control around eating.
• A health insurer notes that the trend toward self-optimization may be driving up eating-disorder numbers.

This is a goddamn alert: the precious “self-improvement” fantasy has turned into a surgical blade. They push kids, especially girls, into a marathon of perfection—calorie counting, macros, gym selfies, fast fashion “wellness” crap—while pretending it’s empowerment. The algorithms in social media amplify every photo of a thigh gap or a bicep pose, rewarding shame and comparison with engagement. The result? more school-age girls trapped in hospitals, longer stays, and a mental health system that’s scrambling to catch up instead of getting ahead.

Meanwhile, men get pushed into the shadows. Muskelsucht and all that macho veneer hide real distress, and doctors miss it until it’s screaming at you in a hospital ward. If I hear one more “it’s just dieting” line, I’ll spit. No, it’s a mental health crisis baked into a culture that equates worth with weight, body fat, and a perfect upload. The self-optimization cult is monetized like clockwork: supplements, programs, apps, gym chains, influencer sponsorships—profit from pain, while the real help is underfunded and delayed.

We need honest action: early detection, accessible mental-health care, nonjudgmental support, and real policies that reduce the social pressure to be flawless. Stop pretending this is just a personal choice or a phase. It’s a systemic problem fed by a culture of relentless optimization, and it will keep swallowing the vulnerable if we don’t slam the brakes and invest in people, not propaganda.