Care and treatment of eating disorders: national specification

Introduction

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that involve abnormal eating behaviour and preoccupation with food, accompanied in most instances by prominent body weight or shape concerns (ICD-11, 2022). Eating disorders can have a significant impact on an individual's physical health, psychological wellbeing and associated functioning. ICD-11 classification (2022) includes several eating disorder categories including Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN), Binge Eating Disorder (BED), and Other Specific Feeding and Eating Disorders (OSFED). It is estimated that around 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder (Beat, 2022).