Eating Disorders

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) on securing this debate on an extremely important issue. This is a good opportunity to raise in Parliament the issue of eating disorders. We must raise awareness, not only among the public but, as he rightly said, among NHS staff. I thank my hon. Friend for his work on behalf of ““beat””, which is the working name of the Eating Disorders Association. The organisation wants to raise awareness and provide support for those with the condition and their families. He talked eloquently about the problems that can arise, and highlighted a case from his constituency. I am sure he will be aware that it is difficult for me to comment on individual cases, but I know from my constituency work the distress that can be caused. We often concentrate on younger people, but there can be issues with older people, particularly the elderly and frail, when recognising an eating disorder may be problematic. I was pleased to attend the ““beat”” campaign launch and to be able to congratulate it on pointing out that people can survive and recover from eating disorders. Getting out those positive messages is extremely important. My hon. Friend referred to the media. It is absolutely right to recognise that some media images of excessive thinness must play a large part in encouraging young people to aim for an unrealistic body weight and to run the risk of becoming anorexic. The media have a role to play in addressing some of the issues. It would not be helpful to debate whether the media cause eating disorders, but I hope that they will, in conjunction with organisations such as ““beat””, print positive stories covering the reality of eating disorders, the people who have recovered, how people must be able to talk about the problem and how to reduce the stigma of eating disorders, as well as providing good advice for those who need to look for the symptoms, whether families or teachers, to ensure that people are aware of the problem. The media have an important part to play. It was interesting to see in the publication that ““beat”” produced on the day of the renaming launch that GPs and nurses are the most likely people to be confided in, and I was sad to learn that parents and teachers are not. A big question is how can we get over that and make sure that people feel able to confide in parents and teachers. We know that the sooner people come forward, the sooner treatment can start and the better the outcome. As my hon. Friend said, there is a lot that we do not know about eating disorders and how they manifest themselves. I am happy to confirm that we are considering whether we can undertake further research, and I hope to make an announcement in the not-too-distant future.