Eating Disorder Awareness Week – February 11 to February 17 – is a chance for charities and organisations to raise awareness of the disease and the extreme effect it has on a sufferer’s life.
An eating disorder can be instigated at any time in a person’s life, both in boys and girls, and has no single cause but is believed to have many influences such as depression and the pressure put on people to be slim and like celebrities.
Approximately 1.6 million people in the UK are currently dealing with an eating disorder, such as anorexia and bulimia. Without help the disease puts the sufferer at serious risk of other health conditions and, in some cases, can be the cause of death.
Beat is a national charity intending to provide support and help for those dealing with an eating disorder by campaigning for better treatment and challenging stereotypes.
Liz Douglas from Beat told JMU Journalism: “We want people to know that recovery is possible, and eating disorders can be beaten. We want to use this week to focus on eating disorders and continuing with our aim to change the way everyone thinks about eating disorders.”
Liz added that although there is world class treatment available in the UK there is not enough of it and the charity is increasingly hearing from people who are having problems accessing treatment.