Prevention has to start early: reflections on the launch of The Prevention of Eating Disorder Deaths report

Yesterday, our Executive Director, Molly Forbes, attended Parliament for the launch of The Prevention of Eating Disorder Deaths - a new report from the APPG for Eating Disorders, for which Hope Virgo and the Dump the Scales campaign serve as Secretariat.

The report calls for urgent, joined-up action to prevent avoidable deaths. It sets out five key national recommendations, including a confidential inquiry into eating disorder deaths, the regulation of NHS and private services, integration with suicide prevention strategies, improved data collection and learning systems, and a fully funded national eating disorder strategy that connects health, education and law.

At the heart of all of this is prevention - and what it means in practice.

Prevention can’t start at crisis point

Eating disorders are complex mental health conditions, shaped by biological, psychological, social and cultural factors. Yet the systems that surround children and young people too often amplify risk: appearance-based bullying, food-shaming, restrictive messaging, and the moralising of “good” and “bad” foods.

Within education, even well-intentioned policies and classroom practices can inadvertently cause harm. From routine weighing of children to “healthy eating” lessons that teach fear rather than understanding, we’re still operating within a culture that equates thinness with health and restriction with virtue - and that urgently needs to change.

Bringing education into the prevention conversation

Molly was invited to contribute to the APPG report as one of the authors, helping to bring the education perspective into national discussions about prevention. The Body Happy Schools Programme was also included as a case study of a preventative approach in schools, highlighting how education can be part of the solution when systems are designed around body respect, inclusion and early intervention.

We know that prevention can’t happen in isolation. It has to be built into the environments where children live, learn and grow. That means equipping teachers with training, embedding body respect into school culture, and challenging the wider narratives that shape how young people see themselves and others.

A shared call for change

The event at Westminster was both powerful and painful. Families shared stories of loss that no one should have to tell. Their bravery is what drives this work forward.

Eating disorder deaths are preventable. But until prevention is properly funded, understood and embedded across systems - from healthcare to education to public health campaigns - we will keep losing lives that could have been saved.

There is hope in collaboration. What’s clear from this report is that change is possible when lived experience, research and policy come together.

Read the full report here: https://www.dumpthescales.org/reports