Luisa Marie Lüken

1 Introduction Imagine a 5-year-old child looking longingly at a jar of candy, but not being allowed to take any until later. We would probably all agree that distraction would be a helpful strategy for suppressing the impulse to reach for the jar and for bridging the waiting time. Now imagine that same child wanting to join their friends playing outside but struggling to tie their shoes and, therefore, becoming increasingly frustrated.

This study compared ICD-10 based ED diagnoses with SCOFF-identified at-risk inpatient females pre- and peri-COVID-19 pandemic. SCOFF’s sensitivity and specificity were evaluated. ED diagnoses doubled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. SCOFF's internal consistency was low and not adequate for clinical samples. Clinicians need more reliable tools to identify eating disorders earlier and more accurately.