Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2025
This article was written by one of our Young Reporters, a scheme that gives 14 to 18-year-old school students a chance to write for a real newspaper. Find out more at the Young Reporter website.
Eating disorders are real - stop looking away from them and start raising awareness.
At least 1.25 million people in the UK are suffering an eating disorder right now, which is more than one out of fifty people diagnosed, with the real amount of people likely to be much higher.
Wide-spread eating disorders include anorexia nervosa (suffered by 8% of people diagnosed with an eating disorder), bulimia (19%), BED (22%), OSFED (47%) and ARFID (5%).
Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia involve extreme attempts to control weight by limiting food consumption (or over exercise), although bulimia refers to this process as a response to previous excessive eating.
BED refers to binge eating disorder, which can often be used casually in conversation, although binge-eating is a serious cause for concern and can be detrimental to one’s health.
OSFED is the most common eating disorder, which is interesting because it stands for Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder, an umbrella term for the specific and niche eating disorders people suffer.
ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), while it involves similar symptoms to other eating disorders of limiting food intake, this disorder is not as a method of controlling weight or appearance, but rather because of general discomfort with food, traumatic experiences etc.
Eating disorders can affect all demographics, though females are more likely to be affected, with 25% of cases being male, perhaps due to higher expectations by society on women to look a certain way, creating pressure to control body weight and appearance.
However, this does not take away from the problems facing men suffering from eating disorders, with the figures of men diagnosed being lower perhaps explained by the survey conducted by Beat (UK’s leading eating disorders charity), which concluded that 1 in 5 men with eating disorders never spoke out, and 1 in 3 never accessed support.
The theme of this year’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week is ‘Anyone can be affected by an eating disorder’, highlighting lack of awareness concerning the prevalence of eating disorders in the UK.
A family member or close friend, a classmate, a teacher; anyone you know could be living with an eating disorder that they have not revealed, and unless you actively watch out for their signs and behaviours, this disorder could stay concealed forever, no matter how obvious it is.
In fact, ironically but sadly, one could suffer from an eating disorder oneself and be completely oblivious to that, justifying unhealthy activity under the excuse of promoting healthy living; or one could be aware of this disorder but remain silent, out of fear of being labelled an ‘attention seeker.’
Eating disorders are becoming increasingly dangerous and relevant to people today, especially on adolescents and youths under the influence of social media which portrays ‘perfect’ beauty standards, forcing young people into the narrow-minded view that unless you look a certain way you are an outcast, or unattractive.
Despite this, however, awareness about these disorders is on the rise, with many charities available to those in need of support.
Such organisations include Beat and NCFED (National Centre for Eating Disorders), as well as more general sources of support such as Mind or the NHS guidelines.
Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2025 is from February 24th – 2nd March; eating disorders are real, stop looking away from them and start raising awareness.
