WHEN: 24 February – 2 March 2025
THEME: Eating disorders can affect anyone.
OBJECTIVE: To raise awareness of eating disorders and that they can affect anyone at any time of their lives.
TARGET AUDIENCE: General public
4 in 5 of our survey respondents thought that greater public awareness would make them feel more comfortable to talk about their eating disorder – Beat’s Eating Disorder Awareness Week Survey 2025 based on 1082 of 1360 who answered that question.
Right now, at least 1.25 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder. That’s more than 1 in 50 people – but the real number could be even higher. Eating disorders like ARFID, anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and OSFED are complex mental health conditions which are often misunderstood, mislabelled or undiagnosed.
Eating disorders don’t just affect the person with the condition, friends and family often become carers – feeling helpless and heartbroken, as they watch their loved one struggle. Eating disorders are one of the biggest mental health challenges of our time and they can affect anyone at any time.
Therefore, we are raising awareness that:
Eating disorders can affect anyone and that it’s not always who you expect.