Eating Disorders Awareness Week: myth busting

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions which develop from using the control of food to cope with emotions and situations, resulting in unhealthy eating behaviours.

These behaviours could include restricting food intake, overeating, exercising excessively or worrying about your weight and body shape.

The theme for this year’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week is ARFID: avoidant and restrictive food intake disorder which commonly affects those with sensory issues related to food.

We take a look at some common myths around eating disorders with Ursula Philpot, a freelance consultant dietitian and senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, who has spent years working to support those affected by eating disorders.

“Eating disorders are a choice – dieting is a normal part of life.”

Dieting is a societal norm, which is quite a sad fact when we think about it.

Many people start their journey of disordered eating into eating disorders through repeated dieting or weight loss. However, no one sets out to have an eating disorder.

Eating disorders develop when thoughts and fears around food dominate and control your life. You feel physically unwell, lethargic, and you can become quite socially isolated. They are a combination of environmental factors, genetic factors and undernutrition that result in a fear of eating normally.

“Anorexia and bulimia are the only types of eating disorder.”

The most common presentation of eating disorders is binge eating disorder, which affects a far greater number of people than anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.

Binge eating disorder occurs at normal body weight or in people that may be overweight, and therefore most people who have eating disorders are in fact normal weight or overweight, not underweight.

Another eating disorder called avoidant and restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), which is the focus theme of this year’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week, is becoming more common in children.

This often occurs in people who have sensory differences to food, very low appetite or avoid foods because of potential adverse consequences: for example, they worry about choking or being sick. There is significant co-occurrence with neurodiversity.

“Eating disorders only affect teenage girls.”

In the case of ARFID, eating disorders can present in very young children.

We are also increasingly seeing eating disorders presenting in people over the age of 40, whether this is for the first time or as a relapse of a pre-existing condition. There have been significantly more people admitted to inpatient services over the age of 60 in the past few years.

Eating disorders can affect any gender. Statistically around one in four patients presenting with an eating disorder is male, especially with a diagnosis of binge eating disorder or ARFID.

“Families are to blame for a person’s eating disorder.”

Families are absolutely not to blame for eating disorders.

The cause of eating disorders can be complex. There is a significant genetic component that may leave people more vulnerable to developing eating disorders, but the environment and food restriction are factors that closely precipitate the development of the eating disorder at the time.

Families don't cause eating disorders, but they do play a really big role in supporting people to recover from eating disorders and vital in helping the person overcome the strong thoughts and fears associated with an eating disorder.

“People can’t recover from eating disorders.”

The good news is that people recover from eating disorders at all stages of illness. Length of illness or severity of illness does not stop people recovering from eating disorders.

The earlier the eating disorder is caught and treated; the quicker somebody tends to recover from it.

Evidence-based treatments for eating disorders generally range from guided self-help for presentations such as binge eating disorder and bulimia, through to treatments such as family therapy or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for conditions such as anorexia.

When eating disorders become more severe, treatment requires a multidisciplinary team supporting the person holistically.

Dietitians are essential in supporting safe re-feeding, nutritional rehabilitation and recovery from eating disorders.

They focus on education and knowledge around the physiological causes and effects of malnutrition and use behaviour change skills to help people move towards better nutrition, and away from fears around foods.

Dietitians take a holistic approach to the person and their circumstances and provide highly individualise care.

If you aspire to help support people with eating disorders, take a look at our courses spanning dietetics and nutrition, psychological therapies and mental health.