AN EPIDEPIC IN THE PANDEMIC: THE MOST DIFFICULT CHALLENGE FOR YOUNG ADOLESCENTS

The pandemic due to COVID-19 has had a huge psychological impact on individuals all over the world, in particular the international literature is noting an increase in pathologies among children and adolescents adolescenti (Pappa et al. 2020, Keles et al. 2020, Pigaiani et al. 2020, Solmi et al. 2021). Adolescence is a time when individuals observe physical changes in their bodies, experience new interests and desires, and find themselves with greater freedom, independence and responsibility; although variably defined, adolescence is generally believed to begin with the onset of puberty and end with assuming social roles as adults (Dahl 2004, Spear 2000). Among the changes that the adolescent has to face are: accepting one\u27s body, acquiring a social role, female or male, establishing new relationships with peers of both sexes, achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults, acquiring social behavior responsible, learn a system of values and an ethical conscience as a guide to one\u27s behavior, develop intellectual skills and prepare for a profession, achieve independence (Juli 2020). All this is not always easy and, many times young people find themselves facing a tortuous path that can give rise to the onset of some mental pathologies; if we then take into account the pandemic period we are experiencing, all this can get complicated. The data released by the Ministry of Health (2021) in the first months of the year, highlight that in Italy today there are about three million young people suffering from Eating Disorders (ED) with early onset before the age of 13 and the number tends to constantly increase. In 1990 Gordon spoke of Eating Disorders as a real social epidemic both in prevalence and incidence and if the preliminary studies conducted during the last year in which we lived the pandemic experience, confirm the increase of about 30% , in the years to come we will find an entire population of young adolescents with dietary difficulties (Santini et al. 2020)