The Woodlands Edition | June 2023

HEALTH CARE New Conroe facility helps treat the gradual rise in eating disorders

BY CASSANDRA JENKINS

EATING DISORDERS ON THE RISE According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of eating disorder visits monthly to hospitals for patients ages 12 to 17 doubled from 2019-22.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Alison Quin- tana, clinical director of Monte Nido Houston, said the rate of people hospitalized due to an eating disorder has doubled. As such, Monte Nido Houston, a residential treatment facility with 16 beds, opened in Con- roe in early April. Located at 15252 Saddlewood Drive just north of FM 1488 in The Woodlands area, the new center is located next door to Clementine Houston, a treatment center for teens and children. Quintana said an eating disorder can look like an intense preoccupation with food, whether it be overeating, not eating enough, purging or restricting intake. “The main red ag is that the person is very obsessive,” she said. “However, it’s not about the food. It seems like it is, but food is used to regulate one’s emotions. That preoccupation with what they are eating or not eating becomes a distraction from painful or uncomfortable emotions.” A study by the American Academy of Pediat- rics showed that before the onset of the COVID- 19 pandemic, the number of people visiting an emergency center for an eating disorder each

month was increasing by 1.5 visits per month. In the rst year after the onset of the pandemic, visits increased by 12.9. The study found hospitalizations are still not back to prepandemic levels. “The isolation, the uncertainty, it all led to an increase,” Quintana said. Residents of Monte Nido have on-site access to a psychiatrist, therapist, dietician and chef. “It is one step down from an in-patient hospi- tal,” she said. “We have the medical component, but we try to make it feel more like home.” Day-to-day operations include requiring clients to eat at least six times a day and help prepare meals as a way to heal a patient’s relationship with food. Quintana said one factor that sets the facility apart is the trauma-informed care oered. “Reaching out for help doesn’t mean that you need to automatically come to a place like this,” she said. “Just reach out, have a conversation, and try not to feel a sense of shame. This is something a lot of people struggle with, and usually they struggle in silence. The more we can normalize it and the more people can get the care they need.”

pre–COVID-19 (January 2018–March 2020) post-COVID-19 onset (April 2020–June 2022) KEY:

1,791

1,566

1.5K

1,039

881

776

578

587

.5K

364

243

185

12-13 14-15 16-17 18+ Age at admission

10-11

SOURCE: AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICSCOMMUNITY IMPACT

336

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THE WOODLANDS EDITION • JUNE 2023