UCSF: This Is How to Cut Hospital Visits for Kids With Eating Disorders

Amid a mental health crisis impacting the country’s young people, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco may have found a way to break the cycle of hospitalizations for eating disorders in youth — more therapy.

A new study led by researchers at UCSF shows that youth who receive more than eight therapy sessions after being hospitalized for an eating disorder are 25% less likely to be rehospitalized than their peers who receive fewer than four sessions.

And providers who conduct the therapy don’t have to have any specialty or expertise in eating disorder treatment to see the impact of the sessions, the study found.

“A modest amount of outpatient therapy from any type of provider can help break the cycle of repeat hospitalizations,” said Erin Accurso, clinical directo