Development of restrictive eating disorders in children and adolescents with long-COVID-associated smell and taste dysfunction

Absent or abnormal senses of smell and taste have been frequently reported during both acute and long COVID in adult patients. In contrast, pediatric patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 are often asymptomatic and the loss of smell and/or taste has been infrequently reported. After observing se...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in pediatrics 2022-11, Vol.10, p.1022669
Main Authors: Brasseler, Maire, Schönecker, Anne, Steindor, Mathis, Della Marina, Adela, Bruns, Nora, Dogan, Burcin, Felderhoff-Müser, Ursula, Hebebrand, Johannes, Dohna-Schwake, Christian, Goretzki, Sarah C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ageusia
anorexia
anosmia
eating disorder
pediatric long COVID
Pediatrics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Absent or abnormal senses of smell and taste have been frequently reported during both acute and long COVID in adult patients. In contrast, pediatric patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 are often asymptomatic and the loss of smell and/or taste has been infrequently reported. After observing several young patients with COVID-associated anosmia and ageusia at our clinic, we decided to investigate the incidence of subsequent eating disorders in these patients and in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients who did not experience anosmia and ageusia during the same period. A single-site retrospective cohort study of 84 pediatric patients with suspected long COVID who were treated in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic at the University Hospital Essen were evaluated for persistent symptoms of COVID-19. Smell and taste dysfunction as well as eating behaviors were among the signs and symptoms analyzed in this study. 24 out of 84 children and adolescents described smell and taste dysfunction after confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infections. A large number of these patients (6 out of 24) demonstrated increased fixation on their eating behavior post-COVID and over time these patients developed anorexia nervosa. In this study we saw a possible association of long-lasting post-COVID smell and taste dysfunction with subsequent development of eating disorders. This observation is worrisome and merits further investigation by healthcare providers at multiple clinical sites.
ISSN:2296-2360
2296-2360
DOI:10.3389/fped.2022.1022669