Eating disorders – new interest

Bob Palmer's (2006) article considering the advances (or lack of them) in the management of anorexia nervosa over the past 10 years comes at a time of renewed interest in the subject of eating disorders. This has been contributed to by NICE guidelines (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2004) and various initiatives and publications by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, including the 1998–2003 Changing Minds Campaign (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/campaigns/cminds/anorexia.htm), various information leaflets (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/info/eatdis.htm) and a document on guidelines for the nutritional management of anorexia nervosa (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2005).

Eating disorders used to be associated with young women working in the beauty and fashion industries, in a culture that promotes a stereotyped concept of beauty and thinness. It is now accepted that they affect (mostly) young women and occasionally young men in all walks of life. Nevertheless, eating disorders tend to be neglected and underreported, with patients unwilling to seek help or engage in treatment. There is a great need for more public awareness of the illness and its consequences. It was therefore very pleasing to read that Paula Abdul, an award-winning performer and celebrity judge on the TV series American Pop Idol, has received the American National Eating Disorders Association's Profiles in Living Award for her work as an ambassador for the Association, having had her own battle with an eating disorder.

There is a lack of new substantial research on innovative treatments for eating disorders, but there have been some welcome developments in putting in place more resources for treatment. The Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust, for example, plans to set up a new eight-bedded eating disorder unit. I now hope for effective new treatments to offer patients who have eating disorders that will improve their care and provide a better outcome.