Dear Bridget Phillipson,

 

On Monday 20th April the APPG for Eating Disorders hosted a roundtable on the intersection of eating disorders and education. 

 

The roundtable brought together educators, clinicians, policymakers and people with lived experience, one message came through with alarming clarity: our education system is not equipped to support those affected by eating disorders and it is failing to prevent them and support young people living with them.

 

Across the discussion, we heard consistent and deeply concerning accounts from schools, colleges and universities. Staff are underprepared. Students are slipping through the cracks. Harmful narratives around weight and body image persist within educational environments. And crucially, prevention and early support is very limited from the system.

 

Eating disorders are among the most serious and life-threatening mental illnesses, yet within education settings they are too often misunderstood, overlooked, or even inadvertently reinforced.

 

This is not simply a matter of individual educators lacking care; it reflects systemic failures in guidance, training, and regulation. Without adequate support, educators lack the necessary understanding, leading to responses that are not only unhelpful but potentially harmful.

 

Right now, there is:

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• No consistent standard for what young people are taught about eating disorders

• No requirement for teachers to be trained in identifying or responding to them

• No safeguards against harmful or outdated educational materials

• Limited knowledge on ARFID, which presents differently to more known eating disorders

• And no clear strategy to prioritise prevention

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We are calling on the Government to take urgent action:

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1. Introduce regulation of educational materials on eating disorders

Schools must be supported to deliver accurate, evidence-based, and safe information. Materials that reinforce stigma, misinformation, or weight-focused narratives should have no place in education.

 

2. Conduct a national review of existing resources

A full audit of what is currently being taught across schools, colleges and universities is urgently needed. We cannot address what we do not understand and right now, the picture is deeply inconsistent.

 

3. Make eating disorder training mandatory for all education staff

Teachers and staff are often the first to notice when a young person is struggling but too many feel unequipped to respond. Mandatory, high-quality training would ensure early identification, safer support, and better outcomes.

 

4. Remove weight-loss messaging and diet culture from education environments

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From classroom materials to school policies, weight-focused messaging can cause real harm. Educational settings must become spaces that promote health, wellbeing, and body respect not reinforce the very pressures that contribute to eating disorders.

 

5.  Recognise and respond to the full spectrum of eating disorders

 

Including ARFID, a condition that remains poorly understood in education and early years settings. Without clear guidance, many children go unidentified for years - government must ensure awareness, referral pathways and interventions for ARFID and other less-visible conditions are embedded within education frameworks.

 

6. Meet with the APPG For eating disorders and our lived experience group 

 

Young people are not being supported early enough. Prevention and adequate support is being neglected. And lives are being put at risk as a result.

 

We urge the Government to act now to protect students, support staff, and build an education system that no longer contributes to this growing crisis, but actively works to prevent eating disorders and support young people living with them.

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We look forward to hearing from you and would welcome the chance to meet with you to discuss this further.

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Richard Quigley MP

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Wera Hobhouse MP

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Hope Virgo, Secretariat for the APPG For Eating Disorders 

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Molly Forbes, Founder & Executive Director The Body Happy Org 

 

Dr Hannah Lewis, Researcher Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health

 

Jodie Goodacre, Lived Experience 

 

Debbie Taylor, Carer

 

Nicky Smith, Carer, Senior Lecturer and Programme leader

 

Chelsea Roff, CEO of Eat Breathe Thrive 

 

Louisa Rose, CEO of BEYOND

 

Vanessa Longley, CEO of BEAT

 

Anne Fry CEO at EDNE

 

Paula Blight CEO at SWEDA

 

Daniel Magson CEO at First StepsED

 

Saffron Mae Baldoza, ARFID Lived Experience Advocate

 

Mandy Scott CEO at PEDS

 

Jo Ormiston Booth Manager at FREED 

 

Alana Wilde CEO at SYEDA

 

Rowan Miller Development Director at REDCAN

 

Marie Crozier Counselling, Health Advice and Chaplaincy, UAL

 

Tash Siggers Clinical Nurse Specialist/RMN East and West Suffolk Children and Young

peoples eating disorders team

 

Shikha Chopra, ARFID lived experience Advocate

 

Dr Kamilla Irvine Senior Lecturer in Body Image and Eating Disorders

 

Nerissa Shaw, SWEDA

 

Joshua Hills, Nutritionist 

 

Ella Dunthorme, Communications Officer

 

Pam Nuget BEM, Laurence Trust 

 

Miriam Collett, Queen's Nurse and Lecturer in Children & Young People’s Nursing’ as the Queens Nursing 

 

Stacey Lambert ARFID UK 

 

Sarah Woodruff, Carer

 

Michelle Jaques, Carer

 

Dr Garcia Ashdown-Franks, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

 

Di Archer Tastelife UK 

 

Suzanne Baker Carer & FEAST representative 

 

Simon Brown, Carer 

 

Dr Samuel Chawner, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, Cardiff University