Three times as many people in the UK with eating disorders than previously thought

More than 3.5 million people in the UK could now be living with an eating disorder, a figure that dramatically reshapes understanding of one of the country’s deadliest mental illnesses. Analysis by national eating disorder charity Beat estimates that around one in 15 people aged 11 and over are living with an eating disorder. This is almost three times higher than the charity’s previous estimate for the UK of 1.25 million people, a figure that has been widely cited since 2017. Shorts The charity says it suggests that illnesses including anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder and ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) are more widespread than previously understood, adding to growing demands for major reforms to treatment services and the way doctors are trained to recognise them. Clinicians, researchers and MPs warned at a recent All-Party Parliamentary Group meeting that eating disorder patients are still being denied treatment until they become critically ill, with outdated thresholds such as body mass index (BMI) continuing to influence access to care despite years of criticism. Medical students ‘get just two hours of training on eating disorders’ An investigation by The i Paper earlier this year also found inconsistencies in how Britain’s 44 medical schools teach future doctors about eating disorders, raising questions about whether they are adequately prepared to recognise and manage the illness. Several universities agreed to review or strengthen teaching as a result of the findings, others declined to support calls for greater training or failed to respond altogether. According to Beat, medical students currently receive an average of just two hours of eating disorder teaching across an entire medical degree. One medical student living with an eating disorder told The i Paper they had learned more through personal experience than through medical school. “We had probably less than one to two hours on a case about eating disorders and management options, which is genuinely diabolical,” they said. Campaigners argue that leaves many newly qualified doctors ill-equipped to recognise illnesses that often present without the stereotypical symptoms many clinicians still expect. That gap can have devastating consequences. Hospital admissions for eating disorders in England have risen sharply in recent years, with Royal College of Psychiatrists data showing an 84 per cent increase over five years. Children and young people have seen particularly steep rises, while increasing numbers of men are also requiring treatment. Experts have repeatedly warned that delayed diagnosis makes recovery harder and more expensive, with patients frequently becoming severely unwell before accessing specialist care. Tom Quinn, Beat’s director of external affairs, said the new estimate reinforced the scale of the challenge facing the health service. He said: “It is highly likely that eating disorders are significantly more common than we previously understood.” Concerns patients are not reaching NHS until crisis point Beat stresses that its new analysis cannot be directly compared to the 2017 figure because of changes in methodology and diagnostic criteria, but its statisticians found a 78 per cent probability that the true prevalence of eating disorders in the UK is higher than previously believed. The figures are based on the national mental health surveys of children and adults in England, with researchers adjusting the adult data to account for the limitations of screening tools. In the absence of UK-wide prevalence studies, the estimates were then applied across the wider UK population. Campaigners are concerned that some of those living with conditions are not being recognised until crisis point, piling further pressure on an NHS already struggling with long waiting lists and overstretched specialist services. The economic cost of eating disorders is also substantial, with previous estimates suggesting eating disorders cost the UK economy billions of pounds each year through healthcare costs, lost productivity and the long-term impact of delayed treatment. With Andy Burnham now in Downing Street, advocates hope there is an opportunity for renewed political interest in the subject. “We need services that reflect that reality. Early intervention saves lives, but that depends on healthcare professionals being able to recognise eating disorders quickly and confidently,” Quinn said.