How to help someone with an eating disorder

There are an estimated 1.25 million people in the UK with an eating disorder. If you’re worried about yourself or someone else, seek help as quickly as possible, as this gives the greatest chance of a full eating disorder recovery.  

What types of eating disorders are there? 

Someone with an eating disorder might limit how much they eat, eat lots of food at once, get rid of the food they've eaten by making themself sick, fasting, doing lots of exercises, or some combination of the above. 

There are different types of eating disorders: 

• Anorexia Nervosa – people with anorexia limit how much they eat or drink. 
• Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) - more commonly known as ARFID, varies a lot from person to person. It involves avoiding certain foods or drinks and/or restricting how much they eat in total.
• Binge Eating Disorder (BED) - people with BED eat large quantities of food at once, without feeling like they can stop or are in control. 
• Bulimia Nervosa – someone with bulimia will repeatably eat large quantities of food, like BED, and then try to get rid of the food by throwing up, taking laxatives or diuretics, fasting, or exercising too much. 
• Orthorexia - an unhealthy obsession with eating "clean" food – usually only eating unprocessed, "healthy" foods. 
• Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED) - as eating disorders can be very complex, sometimes a person's symptoms don't fit with one eating disorder condition, so they may be diagnosed with OSFED.

It's essential to know the signs of different eating disorders as they can look so different from person to person and because there are a lot of stereotypes about them. They can often "hide in plain sight".  

To find out more about eating disorder conditions, visit Beat Eating Disorders. 

How to help someone with an eating disorder

Getting professional help from a healthcare professional is the best way for someone to receive the help they need. 

But this can be a very difficult or daunting step for someone with an eating disorder. You can encourage them to get help or offer to go along with them as support. See what treatment and support is available.

Other ways you can support them include:

• Be patient with them – Eating disorder treatment can last a long time. It’s important to remember that it can take a long time for them to accept they have a disorder and get support. 
• Try to include them in activities or social outings – it’s common for someone with a mental health disorder to isolate themselves. Continuing to ask them to join will make them feel more valued, even if they don’t accept. 
• Let them know you’re here for them – making sure the person you love knows you’re here to listen to them and talk about how they’re feeling if they wish to do so can help. 
• Try not to make any assumptions about how they’re doing based on their appearance or eating habits – comments about their weight or changes in how they eat, such as "You look well!" or "You're eating so much more", may seem like they could be positive, but they can trigger difficult emotions for someone with an eating disorder. The eating problem charity Beat has more information on how to talk to someone with eating problems.
• Make sure they’re using reliable sources to find information. Help them find good information and avoid bad sources. This could mean looking for reliable facts and trusted online support from charities and associations dedicated to helping disordered eating. It also means helping them avoid places online that may promote unsafe eating and exercise habits.

What should services do to help?

• Provide quicker access to support. Beat has warned that during the pandemic NHS waiting lists to see a specialist have grown alarmingly.  
• Raise awareness of eating disorders and make information about local treatment and support easy to access. 
• Offer more information about support groups to help people support a family member or struggling with an eating disorder.