2: RESHAPE Study: Key Takeaways on Eating Disorders

Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH)

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.26478
In this ‘RESHAPE Study’ series episode, Professor Tamsin Ford and Clara Faria explore the findings from the ‘National Study of Health and Wellbeing: Children and Young People’ as they relate to eating disorders, and why these findings are important.
The ‘RESHAPE Study’ series is a new mini-in conversation series that will explore the RESHAPE study and the impact of its findings for parents, teachers, policymakers, and mental health professionals.
Discussion points include:

• The National Survey Study design and the methods used to measure the number of children and young people with eating disorders.
• The correlation between an increase in population-level prevalence of eating disorders and help seeking.
• The increase in waiting times following the COVID-19 pandemic and the unmet needs of children and young people with eating disorders.
• Recommendations for commissioners and how we can ensure early identification of eating disorders.
• The importance of ensuring boys and men are not overlooked.
• Recommendations for future interventions and how to improve medical education around eating disorders.

RESHAPE or ‘REflecting on the impactS of covid-19 on cHildren And young People in England: exploring experiences of lockdown, service access and education’ is a large study looking at how life changed for children, young people, and parents during the lockdown and how this may have affected them. This is a follow-on study from the National Study of Health and Wellbeing: Children and Young people and is a joint effort between the University of Exeter, the University of Cambridge, King’s College London and the NHS.