Warning over eating disorder treatment

Treatment for eating disorders does not take into account gender and cultural differences towards food, experts have warned.

The experts say connections between eating disorders and expectations surrounding femininity are neglected in treatment.

Eating problems are not motivated by the drive for pursuit of thinness or any ‘distortion’ of body image, but by wider experiences of gender expectations and pressures, according to research from the University of East Anglia.

Lead author Dr Su Holmes said: “The medical framework may offer the patient a greater sense of personal agency when it comes to feelings of control in recovery. Given that anorexia in particular is seen to be tightly intertwined with issues of control, this is clearly worth some thought.”