It is important to remember that an eating disorder is a serious mental health problem that needs urgent professional medical diagnosis and treatment.

Signs to look out for can be:

• Loss of periods or not starting menstruation in young girls
• Changes in character and obsessive concern about body weight, shape and dieting
• Extreme fear of gaining weight
• Marked distress around meal times
• Evidence of depression, anxiety and thoughts of self harm
• Rigid ‘black and white’ thinking about food
• Cutting out food that was once enjoyed
• Excessive exercising
• Inducing vomiting
• Appear to be lethargic

They may also include:

• Dramatic weight loss
• Lying about how much they've eaten, when they've eaten, or their weight
• Eating a lot of food very fast
• Going to the bathroom a lot after eating
• Avoiding eating with others
• Cutting food into small pieces or eating very slowly
• Wearing loose or baggy clothes to hide their weight loss