A few years ago now the daughter of one of my oldest friends was diagnosed with anorexia.

I’ve now seen at close quarters how eating disorders can cause huge amounts of pain to the person with the condition and to the people they love.

So I am delighted to support the campaign which is running in both the UK and the USA. If you have links to other countries or , indeed, any events in your area please do mention them in the comments sections below! The week is scheduled, this year, for the last week in March.

This year there are for core messages the organisers wish to get out. It would be great if you could share them using the hashtag #NEDAwareness:-

a) The primary thing to get over is the importance of early intervention and the need to pick up on signs that you or a friend has an eating disorder. Hence the week uses the theme “I had no idea”.
b) Getting people to get checked out for an eating disorder. In fact you can now do it online by going for a free online screening for eating disorders at www.MyBodyScreening.org.
c) Correcting commonplace myths and increasing awareness about the facts are important steps to eating disorder prevention. The sites linked to above will be of use we feel.
d) Help is available and recovery is possible.

A few years ago we set up a Facebook page called Anorexiatalk. Please feel free to join us and take part in promoting awareness.