It was great to attend the Eating Disorders International Conference 2022 (#EDIC2022) last week with Beat.

I was speaking at a round table discussion – ‘At the table: Embracing ethnic diversity in accessing eating disorder treatment’.

Some facts:

👉Between 2017 and 2020 eating disorder admissions rose by 53% among ethnic minorities with the sharpest rise from people with black African background at a staggering 216% (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2021).
👉The college state that this might be because individuals from ethnic minorities may experience barriers to accessing early intervention.

Some of these barriers include individuals and family barriers, such as for example, a belief that eating disorders only affect some populations; community level barriers where some BME groups may be more excluded than others; and institutional barriers, some examples including assumptions made about cultural body types or lack of confidence of therapists.

Awareness of cultural issues in eating disorders is essential, with increased cultural competence training to staff. Raising the profile of educating on eating disorders at community level and exploring the potential impact of digital in engaging communities are some steps that can help.