Laetitia Beaujard-Ramoo responds to a report on the growing incidence of teachers in primary schools seeing pupils with eating discorders Your article on 45% of primary teachers encountering eating disorders in primary schools should...
Poll of 10,000 teachers also finds ‘overwhelming’ exam anxiety and rising absenteeism linked to poor mental health Almost half of primary school teachers are seeing pupils with eating disorders “at least occasionally”, rising to four in...
Pushing yourself to the limit, training through injury and choosing the gym over socialising are all signs that you may have an unhealthy reliance on exercise At the peak of his adventuring career, Luke Tyburski was a man of extremes....
FoI request reveals some people sent home despite BMIs below 15 – considered to be ‘severe malnutrition’ Patients with eating disorders are being discharged from mental health units even though they are still very thin and have...
For years, compulsive behaviors have been viewed as bad habits stuck on autopilot. But new research in rats found the opposite: inflammation in a key decision-making brain region actually made behavior more deliberate, not more...
The idea that thinner or more muscular bodies are healthier remains deeply engrained in Australia, experts say. But there are ways to feel good in your body at the beach Read more summer essentials Bella Davis has struggled with body...
Guidance for GPs and nurses says other factors should be taken into account, such as changes in behaviour A child’s body mass index should not be the key factor when deciding which under-18s get help for an eating disorder, the NHS has...
Megan Jayne Crabbe was diagnosed with anorexia at 14. When she hit her ‘goal weight’ and still didn’t feel happy, a supportive online community showed her a new way to live • ‘Without strength training I wouldn’t survive’: the woman who...
Feeling warm or cold doesn’t just register on the skin—it changes how connected we feel to our own bodies. Research shows that temperature sensations help shape body ownership, emotional regulation, and mental well-being. Disruptions in...
A massive global genetics study is reshaping how we understand mental illness—and why diagnoses so often pile up. By analyzing genetic data from more than six million people, researchers uncovered deep genetic connections across 14...
Everyday sights and sounds quietly shape the choices people make, often without them realizing it. New research suggests that some individuals become especially influenced by these environmental cues, relying on them heavily when...
Audit finds on average adults wait twice as long as children for assessment and more than 10 times as long to be treated Adults with eating disorders in England are waiting up to 700 days for vital treatment, according to a report. The...
Eight in 10 young people think the tech companies should do more to promote positive body image. The under-16s ban does nothing to achieve that Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app...
Deep-brain recordings showed that Mounjaro and Zepbound briefly shut down the craving circuits linked to food noise in a patient with severe obesity. Her obsessive thoughts about food disappeared as the medication quieted the nucleus...
Researchers found that people with anxiety disorders consistently show lower choline levels in key brain regions that regulate thinking and emotions. This biochemical difference may help explain why the brain reacts more intensely to...
Scientists are uncovering how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy act on brain regions that control hunger, nausea, pleasure-based eating, and thirst. These discoveries may help create treatments that keep the benefits of weight loss...
A parent replies to an article by Kate Szymankiewicz about her 14-year-old daughter Ruth, who died after being detained under the Mental Health Act I read with deep sadness the article by Kate Szymankiewicz about the death of her...
Ruth was 14 years old and being treated for an eating disorder when she died after being detained under the Mental Health Act. She wasn’t allowed to see her family for more than a few hours a week. How did the system we trusted – and I...
My job and my disordered eating have long fed each other. Talking publicly about my experience helps lift the veil of secrecy surrounding it Nothing in my life sparks greater joy and deeper shame than food. Publicly, I live and love to...
GLP-1 drugs, originally developed for diabetes and obesity, may also curb addictive behaviors by acting on reward circuits in the brain. Early trials show reductions in alcohol intake, opioid seeking, and nicotine use. Though more...
A massive brain imaging study of nearly 30,000 people has uncovered striking connections between eating ultra-processed foods and measurable changes in brain structure. These changes may be tied to overeating and addictive eating...
Researchers from Leeds found that overeating is driven more by what people believe about food than by its actual ingredients or level of processing. Foods perceived as fatty, sweet, or highly processed were more likely to trigger...
Boston University researchers found that ordinary moments can gain staying power if they’re connected to significant emotional events. Using studies with hundreds of participants, they showed that the brain prioritizes fragile memories...
First I had anorexia, then high cholesterol. It’s hard to maintain a healthy relationship to food in a society obsessed with weight loss When I was a teenager suffering from anorexia, I thought it was a life sentence. I genuinely...
Inquest told Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, received ‘little, if any, therapeutic care’ at privately run Huntercombe hospital Inquest finds girl was unlawfully killed She was loving, sporty and bright. At the start of Ruth Szymankiewicz’s...
Two programs – one a world first – aim to change how the health system treats a deadly yet neglected mental health condition Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast What would become a decade-long battle that nearly...
Too many are still stuck in silence, still waiting, still falling through the cracks. It’s time we moved the dial In 2020, I decided to get help for an eating disorder. Up until that point, I’d had some variation of one for years. It all...
A massive global survey has revealed that people with eating disorders often turn to cannabis and psychedelics like magic mushrooms and LSD to ease their symptoms, rating them more effective than traditional medications. Surprisingly,...
Jenny Stevens and Gina Tonic discuss the rise of #SkinnyTok and the popularity of weight-loss drugs “There’s lots of chat at the moment about #SkinnyTok,” Jenny Stevens , the Guardian’s deputy features editor, tells Helen Pidd . “The...
As health institutions collapse and Maha influencers spread food fears, experts say orthorexia is on the rise Katie*’s struggles with disordered eating began when she was just 11. A gymnast, she put a lot of value in being petite. Katie,...
Digital media minister Clara Chappaz says TikTok videos promoting extreme thinness ‘revolting and unacceptable’ The French government is seeking to take action against a TikTok group promoting extreme thinness among young women and...
Concerns that Kim Leadbeater’s proposed legislation is ‘flawed and dangerous’ are being overlooked Last month, ITV News reported on the case of 51-year-old Anne, who travelled to a Swiss assisted suicide clinic to end her own life after...
The increasing number of people with eating disorders and a lack of national guidance for support teams has led to researchers calling for a new national strategy that includes specific guidance to support the remote delivery of eating...
New research shows that people with eating disorders are more harshly judged than those suffering from depression, making it much harder for them to seek treatment.
Calorie labels on restaurant menus are negatively impacting people with eating disorders, according to a new study. The review found that individuals who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder changed their behaviors if presented...
More than half of 23-year-olds in a European study show restrictive, emotional or uncontrolled eating behaviors, according to new research. Structural brain differences appear to play a role in the development of these eating habits.
The process of food intake appears to be organized at the cellular level like a relay race: during eating, the baton is passed between different teams of neurons until we have consumed the appropriate amount of energy. Through this...
Researchers have investigated the feasibility of a new home-administered treatment for binge eating disorder. The new treatment combines a gentle brain stimulation technique called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with a...
New research finds that binge-eating disorder symptoms may persist longer than once believed, finding 61 percent and 45 percent of individuals still experienced binge-eating disorder 2.5 and 5 years after their initial diagnoses,...
Psychologists have discovered a circuit in the brain of mice that makes them crave food and seek it out, even when they are not hungry. When stimulated, this cluster of cells propels mice to forage vigorously and to prefer fatty and...
The study looked at survey data from 3,670 young people in the UK and the Netherlands to investigate how appetite traits in early childhood might relate to the likelihood of developing eating disorder symptoms up to 10 years later. The...
New research examined how often people experiencing binge eating are also using cannabis recreationally, and whether patients who use cannabis experience more severe eating disorder symptoms or symptoms of struggling with mental health.
New research indicates that the eating disorder anorexia nervosa is associated with being an early riser, unlike many other disorders that tend to be evening-based such as depression, binge eating disorder and schizophrenia.
Disrupted connections between memory and appetite regulating brain circuits are directly proportional to body mass index (BMI), notably in patients who suffer from disordered or overeating that can lead to obesity, such as binge eating...
Whether you're afraid of dogs, needles or enclosed spaces, one of the most effective interventions for this type of anxiety disorder is exposure therapy in which you confront your fear in a safe environment. A new study finds that...
People with anorexia tend to severely restrict their food intake, while those with bulimia go through periods of overeating followed by unhealthful behaviors to ‘purge.’ Learn more here.
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a recently recognized eating disorder. People with ARFID stop growing and gaining weight as they do not eat enough calories.
There are many strategies to help curb binge eating, including identifying and removing triggers, planning meals, and reducing stress. Learn more in this article.