Eating disorders

Eating disorders

Eating disorders

Teachers, school nurses, educational psychologists and social workers recently attended a conference on Eating Disorders and Adolescents at Trinity and All Saints College, Horsford. The conference was designed to address the problems some adolescents have with food and eating, with particular emphasis on the issues this raises for schools and teachers. Delegates learned that there are currently 60,000 eating disorder sufferers in the UK and most of these are young women between the ages of 15 and 30. Eating disorders have one of the highest death rates of all psychiatric illnesses. The sooner the sufferer can get treatment, the greater their chances of recovery. Teachers are in an ideal position to notice the early signs of an eating disorder and to help the sufferer to seek help. The experts who gave papers at the conference were able to help teachers to take the best course of action and direct them towards the specialist help that is required for such a serious illness.