Not All Eating Disorders are Visible was the central message running through Hope Virgo’s powerful session at the Treating and Tackling Eating Disorders Conference 2026. Drawing on her lived experience, campaigning work and policy advocacy supporting those with eating disorders, Hope challenged the assumptions that still shape how eating disorders are recognised, discussed and treated.
Hope Virgo is an author, mental health campaigner and the founder of Dump the Scales, a campaign working to change how eating disorders are understood and treated. She also holds the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Eating Disorders, supporting cross-party work to lobby for change across services, policy and public understanding.
Who Is Hope Virgo?
Hope began by sharing her own experience of anorexia, which she was diagnosed with at 17 after living with the illness through much of her teenage years. She described being able to access specialist treatment at that time, spending a year in a mental health hospital where she learned about food, exercise and, crucially, how to talk about what was happening beneath the surface.
However, her experience also exposed a major problem: the over-reliance on weight and BMI as markers of recovery. Hope explained that once her weight reached a “healthy” BMI, there was still significant psychological work to be done. Yet, because she turned 18 while in treatment, she fell through the transition between services and was unable to fully complete that work.
Not All Eating Disorders are Visible: Challenging Harmful Stereotypes
A key theme of the session was that eating disorders do not have one particular look. Hope highlighted how public perception often still defaults to a narrow stereotype: a white, teenage, underweight girl. In reality, eating disorders affect people of all body sizes, backgrounds, races, genders and ages.
This misunderstanding can have serious consequences. If services, families, schools or workplaces are only alert to visible weight loss, many people in distress may be missed. Hope’s message was clear: appearance alone cannot tell us whether someone is struggling, nor can it determine whether they deserve support.
How Diet Culture Normalises Disordered Thinking
Hope also explored the broader culture that makes recovery harder. She described how society has normalised dysfunctional relationships with food, exercise and bodies. Everyday comments about “earning” food, compensating for eating, dieting before holidays or becoming “beach body ready” can reinforce the same patterns many people in recovery are trying to challenge.
Social media was another important focus. Hope acknowledged that online spaces can provide community and connection for people affected by eating disorders. However, she also warned that wellness influencers and extreme diet content can spread inaccurate, unscientific and harmful messages about food and exercise.
What Can Schools, Services and Communities Do?
Hope encouraged attendees to think practically about the language and behaviours they normalise in their own environments. For schools, this might mean reviewing how food, bodies and exercise are discussed. For services, it may involve reflecting on staff culture and ensuring that conversations around eating disorders do not reinforce stigma. For families and communities, it can start with small changes: avoiding moral labels around food, challenging diet talk and making space for open, non-judgemental conversations.
Did you know that 6% of 11- to 16-year-olds were identified with an eating disorder in 2023? Supporting mental health in young people is often overlooked, especially in schools. We’re hosting the The Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2026 this September to challenge this – improving mental health support in schools will help young people dealing with mental health issues find support and care.
Dump the Scales and the Problem with BMI-Led Access
Hope founded Dump the Scales after being turned away from services during a relapse in 2016 because she was not underweight. Despite her history, she was told there was nothing that could be done. At first, she felt isolated in that experience. But as she began speaking publicly, she realised this was happening to people every day.
The campaign initially focused on access to NHS eating disorder services and the problem of people being denied care because they did not fit neatly into a BMI bracket. Over time, Dump the Scales has expanded to address wider issues, including treatment quality, trauma caused within services, funding gaps, harmful narratives and the neglect of people with eating disorders.
Unsafe Discharges, Accountability and the Need for Strategy
Hope also discussed the work of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Eating Disorders. She described reports that raised concerns about unsafe discharges, variation in treatment depending on location, lack of evidence-based care in some services and the need to examine preventable deaths.
The group is calling for several key changes, including a national eating disorder strategy, increased research funding, a confidential inquiry into all eating disorder deaths, additional funding for services and stronger oversight within NHS trusts. Hope explained that accountability is a recurring issue, with families and patients often passed between local and national complaint routes without feeling properly heard.
Why Clear Pathways Matter
One of Hope’s practical recommendations was the need for clearer pathways. Seeking help for an eating disorder can already feel frightening; being denied treatment can intensify guilt and distress. Where specialist support is not immediately available, people need clear signposting to appropriate charities, local organisations and advocacy routes.
She also encouraged professionals to advocate for patients. That might mean pushing for access to a dietician, requesting a second opinion or challenging decisions that leave someone without the care they need.
Holding Onto Hope in Eating Disorder Recovery
Despite the seriousness of the issues raised, Hope’s session was grounded in hope. She spoke openly about the length and difficulty of her own recovery, but also about reaching a place where food feels more relaxed and where life includes spontaneity, family and joy.
Her message to anyone currently living with an eating disorder, or supporting someone who is, was that change is possible. Recovery may be painful and uneven, but people can and do recover at any age and at any stage of illness.
Watch the Conference On Demand
This session is part of the Treating and Tackling Eating Disorders Conference 2026, now available to view online. The conference offers valuable insights for professionals, carers, educators and anyone seeking to better understand eating disorder support, treatment and prevention.
Conclusion: Not All Eating Disorders are Visible, but Everyone Deserves Support
Not All Eating Disorders are Visible is more than a reminder; it is a call to action. Hope Virgo’s session challenges us to look beyond weight, question the culture that normalises disordered behaviours and advocate for services that respond to need rather than appearance.
Whether you work in healthcare, education, policy or simply want to support someone you care about, the next step is practical: listen without judgement, challenge harmful assumptions, use careful language and keep pushing for better access to compassionate, evidence-based care.
The Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2026 will examine the latest government initiatives tackling the rising challenge of student mental health and explores the obstacles faced by service providers at leading universities. It highlights practical solutions for delivering effective support and offers clear guidance on next steps to strengthen student support pathways.