WELLBEING
Eating disorders are highly serious , insidious and irrational . Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder ( Beat , 2021 ), from medical complications associated with the illness , such as heart failure , gastroenterological issues and neurological issues , as well as suicide . Bulimia is associated with severe medical complications , and binge eating disorder sufferers often experience similar medical complications associated with obesity . Relative Energy Deficiency Disorder , or RED-S , is common in young athletes and can lead to stress fractures and long-term bone health issues . In all cases , eating disorders seriously impact the quality of life of sufferers and those around them .
When eating goes wrong : the impact of eating disorders in schools
Sarah Eversfield , Teacher of English and Assistant Housemistress
What are eating disorders ?
1.25 million people in the UK live with an eating disorder . Around 75 % of these are female and 25 % are male . Many eating disorders start in adolescence and we know as teachers that they can be devastating to the lives of young people . To someone with a healthy and unemotional relationship with food , eating disorders can seem inexplicable , trivial , and even ridiculous . Conversely , someone with an eating disorder could be sitting in a Maths lesson , unable to focus for more than seven seconds on something that is not the food they will or will not eat that day , the toast they ‘ shouldn ’ t ’ have eaten that morning or the way their thighs look on the classroom chair . Every minute of every day is punctuated by thoughts about food , weight and shape .
Why is it important for teachers and schools to be aware of eating disorders ?
Interestingly for those of us teaching in independent schools , girls with high proportions of universityeducated parents are more likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder than girls at schools with fewer university-educated parents ( Bould et al , 2016 ). Private schools , containing a greater proportion of universityeducated parents than state schools ( Green et al , 2017 ), and the often highly educated parents that pay the fees , may also encourage a culture of girls trying their best at all times . This might lead to some of them developing perfectionistic traits , found to be common in those with eating disorders ( Holland et al , 2013 ).
Bernie Wright , a counsellor , psychotherapist and specialist in eating disorders , comments
‘ We do often see students from extremely academic schools , where children live with very high parental expectations . It can be related to things like loneliness away from home , if you ’ ve got children who are boarding dealing with emotional separation from their parents for the first time . They are feeling out of control . And their way of dealing with those feelings can be to sedate themselves with refined carbs and sugars or sedate themselves by having that very euphoric feeling of starvation .’
What can staff do if they notice someone with an eating disorder ?
Wright advises staff who notice the signs of eating disorders to initiate a conversation .
‘ In their roles as teachers , boarding house-parents and matrons , staff may notice the signs of eating disorders . They are not qualified professionals in healthcare or eating disorders , but they may observe the symptoms . For example , duty staff might observe a student regularly not eating at meals , or a child who has lost a significant amount of weight over a holiday . In the boarding house , you might observe a child binge eating a huge amount every time there is a birthday cake , going
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