Exclusive: urgent investment needed as demand grows for treatment for conditions such as anorexia in pandemic

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Extremely unwell eating disorder patients are having to be tube fed at home by their families owing to a lack of hospital beds, as the Royal College of Psychiatrists reports a rise in people being treated in units without specialist support.

Leading psychiatrists are urging the government for an emergency cash investment as the pandemic has prompted a rise in demand for treatment for conditions such as anorexia, amid “desperate pressure in the system”.

A surge in cases during the pandemic has shone a light on how poor policymaking is in this area of mental health

• Agnes Ayton is chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ eating disorders faculty

Eating disorders are one of the deadliest mental illnesses, but they are also highly treatable. The key is ensuring people can access the help they need as early as possible. Many people who have eating disorders are missing out on treatment because underfunded NHS services are using body mass index (BMI) as the main indicator to determine whether a person can access specialist care.

Introduced in the early 19th century by the Belgian mathematician Lambert Adolphe Quetelet, BMI is a widely used measure in population health. It is a simple calculation: weight divided by height squared. But simplicity comes at a cost. BMI was never designed to be a measure of the overall physical and mental health of an individual, and it’s never used as a sole measure in clinical practice. It’s a rough guide, and it doesn’t consider factors such as body composition, age, gender or ethnicity.

Agnes Ayton is chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ eating disorders faculty

Social media platform says it was a ‘mistake’ and that harmful terms have been removed in an update

Instagram has apologised for a “mistake” that meant it promoted weight-loss content to users with eating disorders.

A new feature on the social network provides users with suggested search terms based on their interests, with default prompts including terms such as “yard work”, “home decor” or “sunsets”. But some people with eating disorders found the app was prompting them to search for terms like “appetite suppressant” instead, raising the risk of a relapse or worse.

In the UK, Beat can be contacted on 0808-801-0677 or emailed at help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (over-18s), studentline@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (students) or fyp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (under-18s). In the US, the National Eating Disorders Association helpline number is 1-800-931-2237. In Australia, the Butterfly Foundation for Eating Disorders helpline number is 1800-33-4673.

It’s hard to say whether Amy’s death shocked the music industry into better protecting artists experiencing mental ill health but I’m hopeful things are changing for the better

Released when I was 14, Amy Winehouse’s debut album offered a bridge from the tween-pop I grew up on to an intriguing adult world rich with sophistication. Back then, I didn’t understand all the lyrics – who was “Badu”? What was a “Moschino bra”? – but that only added to the alluring sense that I was instantly cooler for listening. I spent many evenings in my bedroom trying to mimic Amy’s unfathomably syllable-packed rendition of Moody’s Mood for Love, or singing her ballads or fantastically cutting insults in the imagined direction of whoever was my romance of that week, depending on the drama.

By the time Back to Black arrived, I was 16 and a fully fledged Amy fan, sporting backcombed hair and thick black eyeliner. The album soundtracked my first proper heartbreak, comforting me during the brushing-teeth-while-crying phase with Love Is a Losing Game. It later uplifted me as I sauntered down the street with my head held high to Tears Dry on Their Own, wondering why on earth I did, indeed, “stress the man”.

Women and equalities committee also calls for restriction or ban on edited images in advertising

The government’s approach to tackling lockdown-exacerbated eating disorders and negative body image is dangerous, MPs have said, as they called for action on edited images in advertising.

A report highlights the impact the pandemic has had on how people view their bodies and is critical of the growing numbers of women and men in England with eating disorders being denied support because they are not considered underweight enough to warrant it.