Eating disorder statistics

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect people of all ages and backgrounds.

With high rates of comorbidity and mortality, their growing prevalence represents a major public health concern. To help you learn more about eating disorders, we’ve listed some facts and figures from leading organisations, charities and studies in the field.

Prevalence

• Estimates indicate that at least 1.25 million people in the UK are affected by eating disorders [1], but  up to 6.4% of adults display some signs of an eating disorder. [2]
• Around 25% of people with eating disorders are male. [2]
• Disordered eating is a risk factor for developing eating disorders. In the UK, 22.4% of children and adolescents show some form of disordered eating with the number jumping to 31% of adults. [4]

Impact on health services

• Between 2015 and 2021, hospital admissions for eating disorders increased by 84%, with children and young people being the worst affected group. [3]
• Almost half of all hospital admissions for eating disorders during the period 2020/21 were 25 years of age or younger. [3]
• The 2019 NHS Health Survey found that 16% of UK adults and 4% of emergency-screened patients screened positive for an eating disorder. [5]

People seeking professional treatment

• Individuals with relatively higher levels of shame engaged in more disturbed eating behaviours [6]
• People wait on average three-and-a-half years between falling ill and starting treatment. [7]
• Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is now the most common eating disorder, affecting 1 in 50 UK residents, with an estimated 40% of sufferers being male. [8]
• 58% of people with an eating disorder also have a psychiatric comorbidity. [9]

Mortality and outcomes

• Anorexia nervosa affects up to 3% of young women and has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder [10]
• Approximately 5% of patients dying within four years of the diagnosis. [10]

Family history and risk factors

• The most reliable studies suggest that over 50% of the risk for eating disorders is due to genetic factors. [11]
• The risk of developing an eating disorder has been reported as being between 7 to 12 times higher in people with a positive family history of eating disorders. [12]

Trends

• During Covid-19, NHS child and adolescent eating disorder services saw the number of urgent and routine referrals almost double. [13]
• Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a relatively new feeding and eating disorder affecting anywhere between 0.3% to 17.9% of people. [14]
• People with autism or ADHD are more likely to have ARFID than neurotypical people. It also seems to start earlier in life than other feeding and eating disorders. [14]