Three leading U.S. medical groups have declared a nationwide mental health crisis among children and teenagers.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association say the coronavirus pandemic is to blame.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said between March and October 2020, emergency mental health visits for children aged 5 to 11 increased 24 percent.

And there was a 31 percent increase in emergency mental health visits for children aged 12 to 17.

The attempted suicide rate of girls aged 12 to 17 rose by 51 percent compared to a year earlier.

Meanwhile, many children in the U.S. have been impacted by the loss of a loved one since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 140,000 children in the U.S. have lost at least one parent or grandparent caregiver, with young people of color particularly affected.

“This worsening crisis in child and adolescent mental health is inextricably tied to the stress brought on by COVID-19 and the ongoing struggle for racial justice, and represents an acceleration of trends observed prior to 2020,” according to a joint statement from the medical groups.

They called on government decision-makers at all levels to act quickly to deal with the children’s mental health crisis.

“Children’s mental health is suffering. Young people have endured so much throughout this pandemic and while much of the attention is often placed on its physical health consequences, we cannot overlook the escalating mental health crisis facing our patients,” said AAP President Lee Savio Beers. 

“Today’s declaration is an urgent call to policymakers at all levels of government – we must treat  this mental health crisis like the emergency it is.” 

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