Eating disorder awareness

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that can have severe psychological, physical and social consequences. An eating disorder can involve eating too much, or too little, getting rid of food that has been eaten or a combination of these behaviours. Those with eating disorders may have negative perceptions of their body image, such as their weight and shape, and often have other mental health problems alongside the eating disorder, such as anxiety or depression. Eating disorders commonly start in adolescence but can start earlier or later during childhood or adulthood.

Statistics on eating disorders, such as on prevalence, hospital admissions and waiting times, can be found in section 1.2 of the Library debate pack on eating disorders awareness week 2024 (February 2024).

Types of eating disorders

The NHS says the most common eating disorders are:

• anorexia nervosa
• bulimia
• binge eating disorder

A person may have an other specified feeding or eating disorder if their symptoms do not exactly fit the expected symptoms of a specific eating disorder.

A person may have an avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder when they avoid certain foods and/or limit how much they eat.

Symptoms of eating disorders

The NHS identifies the following symptoms of eating disorders:

• spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape
• avoiding socialising when you think food will be involved
• eating very little food
• making yourself sick or taking laxatives after you eat
• exercising too much
• having very strict habits or routines around food
• changes in your mood such as being withdrawn, anxious or depressed

Individuals may also notice physical signs, including:

• feeling cold, tired or dizzy
• pains, tingling or numbness in your arms and legs (poor circulation)
• feeling your heart racing, fainting or feeling faint
• problems with your digestion, such as bloating, constipation or diarrhoea
• your weight being very high or very low for someone of your age and height
• not getting your period or other delayed signs of puberty

Eating disorder awareness week

Eating Disorders Awareness Week is an international event for raising awareness and understanding of eating disorders, and challenging stereotypes and stigmas.

In 2025, it took place from February 24 to March 2. The charity Beat said the objective for Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2025 was “to raise awareness of eating disorders and that they can affect anyone at any time of their lives”.

Recent policy

Health policy and funding and education policy prior to February 2024 is covered in section 1.3 of the Library debate pack on Eating disorders awareness week 2024 (published February 2024).

Guidance

In February 2025, the government said NHS England is in the process of publishing updated commissioning guidance for children and young people with eating disorders, and updated access and wait time standard guidance.

NHS England’s 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance has a priority for Integrated Care Boards to improve access to children and young people’s mental health services, which would include eating disorder services.

Government funding and commitments Funding for eating disorder services

The government has said funding for eating disorder services has increased each year, from £46.7 million in 2017/18 to a planned spend of £101 million in 2024/25.

Government mental health commitments for young people

General information about mental health policy and services can be found in the Library briefings on Mental health policy and services in England (October 2024) and on Children and young people’s mental health: policy and services in England (January 2024).

The government has said:

• it will recruit an extra 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to improve access to treatment and support
• it will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England
• it is rolling out Young Future Hubs in every community to provide open access mental health support for children and young people