Eating Disorders Can Affect Anyone: Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2025 – Monday 24th February – Sunday 2nd March
Written by Erin, 3rd Year Psychology Student and Student Mental Health Champion
This is an important week where charities, organisations, and support services raise awareness about the experiences of those impacted by eating disorders. This year’s theme according to the charity Beat Eating Disorders is “eating disorders can affect anyone.” This conversation is long anticipated and necessary to challenge common misconceptions about eating disorder and ultimately break down stigma surrounding access to support. Eating disorders do not discriminate. They can impact anybody of any age, gender, body shape, ethnicity, sexuality or background. And the impact goes beyond the individual; friends, family, and loved ones may feel lost with how to provide support. It is likely that you know someone affected by an eating disorder – according to Beat, it is estimated that there are 1.25 million people (1 in 50 people) currently living with an eating disorder in the UK. This includes people with diagnoses such as anorexia, bulimia, ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder), binge eating disorder and OSFED (other specified feeding or eating disorder), and also other individuals who may not be accessing support due to being unacknowledged, undiagnosed or unheard. Importantly, not all eating disorders look the same. They are a complex mental health condition that go beyond more than just food itself. Misconceptions about stereotypes of people who have eating disorders often discourage people from accessing support early. Beat found that in a survey, 4 in 5 people thought that greater awareness about eating disorders in the general public would help them to feel more comfortable talking about their own eating disorder. And so, the aim of this year’s campaign is to break down these barriers, increase awareness, challenge misconceptions and make recovery accessible for all.
As a part of the NTU community, here are a list of practical ways you can get involved in Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2025:
- Use social media – sharing informative posts, infographics or statistics to your social media platforms can help to promote understanding or encourage open conversations among your social circles. Also, you can reach further audiences or join in the wider conversation by using hashtags, for example #AnyoneAnytime , #EDAW2025 , #EatingDisordersAwarenessWeek2025. Beat have a range of free social media assets that you can download and share on your own personal Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn page! They even have downloadable headers to add to your email to help spread the word and raise awareness. Follow the link to these useful resources page here.
- Learn and teach – taking the time to improve your own knowledge about eating disorders, signs and symptoms to look out for and what treatments are available is a great place to start to increase awareness. Beat have a bank of information about eating disorders that is comprehensive and easy to navigate, linked here. You can spread this knowledge among your social circles and help to continue debunking common myths that may arise. A fantastic page that addresses various myths about eating disorders by Beat is linked here.
- Share your stories – open conversations can be a powerful tool to reduce stigma and provide inspiration to others. If you or someone you know has been affected by an eating disorder, think about sharing insight to your experiences. One of the most impactful ways to create change surrounding misconceptions and stigma is through narratives of lived experience. You can share your stories in-person through conversation, through positive use of social media, or through blog posts, such as on the Beat website. This may provide representation or hope to someone who may be affected by these misconceptions and feel like they are unable to seek support. Also, if you would like to share your experiences with the NTU community, you can contact healthyntu@ntu.ac.uk to write a blog post for the HealthyNTU Blog! Check out my previous post about my experience with an eating disorder and my advice for adjusting to university in recovery here. Also, you can find other inspiring recovery stories posted on the Beat website here.
- Reach out for help – if you are struggling and wish to seek support, there is no better time than now. It can feel daunting, you may feel nervous about opening up to someone and taking that first step in your recovery. But there are amazing support services who are there to offer you a space to express your feelings and thoughts, provide you information about eating disorders, and help you explore your next steps. I remember how anxious I felt about letting others help me- it felt like letting go of control. But the eating disorder was controlling me. After being recovered for just over 3 years now, I have never looked back. Choosing recovery was the best decision I ever made, and I am so proud I did it. And you can too! When accessing support, it may be helpful for you to open up to a friend or family member. This helped me to navigate my thoughts and made discussing support options feel less overwhelming. Listed below is the email support and helpline for Beat Eating Disorders:
England – 0808 801 0677
England – help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
Linked here is what to expect when contacting Beat for support.
To access more general support at NTU, you can contact the PATHway drop-in service and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Support services via the Support and Wellbeing Referral Form, which you can fill out for yourself or another NTU student that you are concerned about. For other help, advice and resources whilst studying at NTU, take a look at the following for sources of support.
Support from NTU
Self-Care books in NTU’s libraries
Silvercloud: SilverCloud is our online system designed to help with a range of mental health issues.
Health and Wellbeing resources
NTSU Information and Advice service
Wellness in Mind: Advice and support for anyone in Nottingham experiencing issues with their mental wellbeing
Student Minds or Student Space
10 Keys to happiness
Mind
Papyrus
CALM
healthyntu.blog 