Grimsby support service sees more girls getting help for eating disorders
There appears to be a greater willingness to address issues
Last updated 29th Jun 2023
A North East Lincolnshire eating disorders service is seeing a rise in the numbers coming to them - but it's thought to be down to girls being more willing to speak about the difficulties they're facing.
A recent study suggests that since the pandemic, the number of teenage girls with an eating disorder is over 40% higher than what is expected.
Laura Hammond is from Rharian Fields in Grimsby - who help people live with and recover from illnesses such as anorexia.
We tend to see more females come through
She told us: "I'm not sure if there are more girls than boys - I think girls speak about it more and I think that is probably the difference."
"We tend to see more females come through but it is across the genders and binaries."
"It's about education but not just about educating the children but also the families so we all have a greater understanding of what an eating disorder is and what treatment's out there."
"If there was better education about how you could access that it would make the process easier."
Anyone with issues is advised to get support
"Covid gave a lot of people a lot more understanding of mental health but on the flip side also creating a lot of social isolation, it gave people a lot of time to access social media as their only way of contact."
She advises people who have issues to get help.
Laura says there is a lot of help out there and there's no shame in seeking support.