Preventing Adverse Consequences of Eating Disorders means recognising eating disorders as serious, whole-person illnesses that can affect mental health, physical health, relationships and long-term wellbeing. In a session from the Treating and Tackling Eating Disorders Conference 2026, now available On Demand, Dr Agnes Ayton, former chair and current Vice Chair at the Faculty of Eating Disorders, explored what recent research tells us about risks, outcomes and the urgent need for more joined-up care.
Her message was clear: eating disorders should not be treated as short-term problems that can always be resolved within a fixed number of therapy sessions. For many people, these are complex and potentially chronic conditions requiring early intervention, nutritional rehabilitation, physical monitoring, psychological support and coordinated services that do not leave people falling between gaps.
Why Preventing Adverse Consequences of Eating Disorders Requires Collaboration
Dr Ayton began by emphasising the importance of working together across clinical services, charities, campaigners and policymakers. In her view, improving prevention and treatment coverage depends on shared advocacy rather than fragmented efforts.
This is especially important because eating disorders often struggle to receive sufficient political attention. Clinicians, campaigners and charities each bring different strengths: clinical insight, lived experience, public voice and policy influence. When these groups work together, the case for better services becomes harder to ignore.
Eating Disorders Are Whole-Person Illnesses
A central theme of the session was the need to move beyond narrow definitions of eating disorders. While they are mental disorders, Dr Ayton highlighted that they also affect the brain, body and social functioning. Anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive symptoms, autistic spectrum features, self-harm and other psychiatric symptoms may be present alongside serious physical complications.
Importantly, she argued that comorbidities should not be seen simply as secondary issues. Instead, they are often an essential part of the illness picture and must be considered within treatment planning.
The body and mind must be treated together
Research discussed in the session highlighted both short-term mental health risks and longer-term physical risks. Dr Ayton referred to increased risks of liver problems, renal complications, osteoporosis and fertility-related concerns. Some of these may be linked to behaviours such as purging, laxative or diuretic misuse, or alcohol misuse.
The practical implication is that services should not wait until physical problems become severe before acting. Monitoring and prevention should be built into care from the beginning.
Early Intervention Is Critical
One of the most important points from the session was that an eating disorder diagnosis can signal a major health crisis. Many people do not seek help immediately, meaning that by the time services become involved, risk may already be high.
Dr Ayton discussed evidence suggesting that suicide risk can be particularly elevated in the first year or two after diagnosis. This reinforces the need for early intervention, active risk assessment and timely access to support.
She also warned against dismissing eating disorders as mild or transitory. Even when someone appears outwardly “well” or does not fit a stereotypical image of an eating disorder, the risks can be significant.
Understanding Mortality and Risk Factors
The session explored recent research into mortality among people with eating disorders. Dr Ayton noted that mortality risk is elevated not only in anorexia nervosa, but also in bulimia, binge eating disorder and atypical presentations.
Key risk factors discussed included:
- Low BMI and severe malnutrition
- Substance misuse or alcohol problems
- Psychiatric comorbidities
- Male sex, potentially linked to later presentation or under-recognition
- Risks associated with unmanaged refeeding syndrome
Dr Ayton was careful to stress that malnutrition must not be ignored. While services should avoid delaying treatment until someone is severely underweight, nutritional risk remains clinically important and must be managed by trained teams.
Suicide prevention must be built into eating disorder care
Dr Ayton also discussed findings from work on suicide and eating disorders, including the limitations of traditional risk assessment. Some people who later die by suicide may have been assessed as “low risk”, which shows the danger of relying too heavily on tick-box approaches.
She highlighted the need for more thoughtful, eating-disorder-informed suicide prevention strategies. This includes recognising trauma histories, comorbid mental health difficulties and the importance of safe prescribing protocols to reduce overdose risk.
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The Case for Integrated Services
A repeated concern in the session was the problem of siloed care. People with eating disorders may be rejected by services because their needs are seen as too complex, or they may fall between eating disorder services, general mental health teams, addiction services and physical healthcare.
Dr Ayton argued for a model that treats the body and mind together, with stronger involvement from primary care. Rather than expecting specialist services to carry the entire responsibility, primary care should play an active role in long-term monitoring and prevention.
Bridging the “missing middle”
Another important issue was the gap between once-weekly outpatient care and hospital admission. Dr Ayton described this as a chasm that leaves many people without the right level of support. More intensive treatment closer to home could help bridge this missing middle, supporting people before they reach crisis point.
This approach could also reduce the sense that care is only available at the extremes: either minimal outpatient input or inpatient treatment. For many people, recovery requires something more flexible, sustained and responsive.
Recovery Is Possible, Even After Long Illness
Although the session addressed serious risks, it also included an important message of hope. Dr Ayton challenged the idea that people cannot recover if they have had an eating disorder for a long time.
Research discussed in the session suggests that people can and do improve over time. Presentations may shift, for example from anorexia to bulimia or to atypical forms, and some people experience a chronic course. However, long-standing illness should not be treated as a reason to withdraw hope or support.
This has major implications for service design. If first-line treatments do not help everyone, services need long-term pathways rather than assuming that non-recovery reflects personal failure. Ongoing support is part of responsible care.
What Needs to Change?
Dr Ayton’s session pointed towards several practical priorities for improving outcomes:
- Formal, funded annual mental and physical health checks in primary care for anyone with a history of eating disorders
- Better integration between physical health, mental health and specialist eating disorder services
- More intensive community-based treatment options to bridge the gap between outpatient and inpatient care
- Improved clinical coding so eating disorder needs are accurately recorded and visible
- Long-term outcome monitoring to understand what happens beyond short treatment windows
- Stronger suicide prevention strategies tailored to eating disorder populations
These changes reflect a broader shift: eating disorders need to be understood and managed more like other serious long-term health conditions, with planned follow-up, relapse prevention and proactive monitoring.
Conclusion: Preventing Adverse Consequences of Eating Disorders Starts with Better Systems
Preventing Adverse Consequences of Eating Disorders is not only about individual treatment choices. It is about building systems that respond early, monitor risk over time, integrate physical and mental healthcare, and keep offering support even when recovery is complex.
Dr Agnes Ayton’s session at the Treating and Tackling Eating Disorders Conference 2026 offers a valuable reminder that eating disorders are serious, multifaceted conditions, but also that improvement and recovery remain possible. For clinicians, commissioners, policymakers and advocates, the challenge is to create services that match clinical reality: coordinated, long-term, compassionate and equipped to prevent avoidable harm.
To explore the full session and wider conference content, access the Treating and Tackling Eating Disorders Conference 2026 On Demand.
Now is the time to align strategies, build sustainable partnerships and ensure students have access to the right care and the right support. The Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2026 will highlight practical solutions for delivering effective support and offers clear guidance on next steps to strengthen student support pathways.