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Our Education System Is Failing Young People With Eating Disorders

Woman in a yellow vest speaks into a microphone, holding a phone, against a gray stone background. She appears cheerful and engaged.

Author: Hope Virgo

Founder of Dump the Scales CIC and Secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders.



On Monday 20th April, the APPG for Eating Disorders hosted a roundtable exploring the intersection between eating disorders and education. Bringing together educators, clinicians, policymakers, campaigners and people with lived experience, the discussion revealed a deeply concerning reality: our education system is not equipped to prevent eating disorders or support the young people living with them.


Throughout the roundtable, one message came through again and again students are slipping through the cracks.


Across schools, colleges and universities, staff described feeling underprepared to identify eating disorders or respond safely when concerns arise. Young people and families shared experiences of harmful misunderstandings, delayed support, and environments where diet culture and weight-focused messaging continue to thrive unchecked.


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 because educators do not care. In fact, many teachers and staff are desperate to help. But they are being let down by a lack of clear guidance, training, regulation and investment in prevention.


We know there is...


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

  • No requirement for teachers or education staff to receive training;

  • No safeguards against harmful, outdated or weight-focused educational materials;

  • Limited awareness of conditions such as ARFID, which often presents differently to more widely recognised eating disorders;

  • And no coherent national strategy prioritising prevention and early intervention.


This cannot continue.


If we are serious about protecting young people, education must become part of the solution not another place where eating disorders are missed, misunderstood, or worsened.


That is why we are calling on the Government to take urgent action on Eating Disorder Education.



1. Regulate Educational Materials on Eating Disorders


Schools and colleges must be supported to deliver accurate, evidence-based and safe information about eating disorders. Educational materials that reinforce stigma, misinformation or harmful weight-focused narratives should have no place in classrooms.


Young people deserve education that promotes understanding, compassion and early help-seeking not content that risks causing harm.


2. Conduct a National Review of Existing Resources


There is currently no clear picture of what is being taught about eating disorders across education settings.


A national audit of resources used in schools, colleges and universities is urgently needed. Without understanding the scale of inconsistency and misinformation, meaningful change will remain impossible.


3. Make Eating Disorder Training Mandatory for All Education Staff


Teachers, support staff and pastoral teams are often the first adults to notice when a young person is struggling.


Yet too many report feeling unequipped and unsupported in responding safely.


Mandatory, high-quality training would help staff identify warning signs earlier, respond appropriately, and ensure young people are connected to support before they reach crisis point.


4. Remove Weight-Loss Messaging and Diet Culture From Education Environments


Weight-focused messaging is deeply embedded within many educational environments - from classroom materials and health lessons to wellbeing initiatives and school policies.


For vulnerable young people, these messages can be incredibly damaging.


Educational settings should promote wellbeing, body respect and inclusive health approaches not reinforce the pressures and stigma that contribute to eating disorders.


5. Improve Recognition and Support for ARFID and Less Visible Eating Disorders


Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) remains poorly understood within many education and early years settings.


As a result, many children go unidentified for years, often being labelled as “fussy eaters” rather than recognised as needing support.


Government must ensure awareness, referral pathways and appropriate interventions for ARFID and other less-visible eating disorders are embedded within education frameworks.



Two women in sunglasses smile outdoors by a river, wearing white tops. One holds a cup with a straw. Bright, sunny day with blue sky.
Debbie (left) and her daughter, Zara (right)

Debbie Taylor, Carer


“I lost my daughter Zara to anorexia nervosa. She was a sensitive, funny, and deeply compassionate young woman, who from the age of nine was raising money to buy toys and supplies for orphanages in Zimbabwe and Zambia. She had a huge heart, a sassy sense of humour, and a whole world ahead of her. When Zara first began showing symptoms; the sore stomach, the stopped periods, the weight loss, the hands and feet turning white and purple with cold; our GP missed every single one of them. Not out of malice, but out of a lack of knowledge. These were textbook warning signs of anorexia nervosa, and yet it took a full year, a private gastroenterologist, and a private dietitian before anyone connected the dots and gave us a diagnosis. A year in which this illness tightened its grip on my daughter.


What followed were thirteen inpatient admissions across seven different units. At one of those, a rehab centre, the staff had no understanding of eating disorders whatsoever. Zara lasted three months before ending up in resus, her blood pressure so critically low we nearly lost her. That is not a system failing in the abstract. That is an untrained person placed in charge of a dying young woman.


Had the professionals who first encountered Zara, the GPs, the school staff, the various care teams along the way, received proper, mandatory eating disorder training, I believe her story could have been different. Zara deserved better. Every family walking this road deserves better. That is why mandatory, accredited eating disorder training is not a policy preference. For us, it was life and death.”






Are you ready to take action?


Dump the Scales launched a campaign calling for a National Eating Disorder Strategy with a film and petition.


Over 4 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder, people with eating disorders have the highest rate of mortality out of all mental illnesses but yet too many are denied treatment. too many are reaching crisis. People are dying. This is preventable.


𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. 𝗪𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.


Watch the Dump The Scales video, Sign our petition and Donate to help our life saving work.




Donate to support our work here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dumpthescales


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