Grace’s Comfort Eating guest this week is the former politician Tom Watson. The pair talk about his life – after she has to run to the kitchen to spit out the food he brought round. They talk about growing up on cheese toasties, the Jeremy Corbyn years, and how Watson, at the aged of 54, realised he has an eating disorder

New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent are released every Tuesday

Although the platform bans content promoting dangerous weight loss, hashtags such as #skinnycheck can still be found

Instagram has attracted a firestorm after whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed internal research showing the platform downplayed proof of its toxic effects – including the rise of eating disorders – on children.

But such issues are not limited to the Facebook-owned social media company. The Guardian has found a variety of harmful pro-anorexia hashtags remain searchable on the popular video-sharing app TikTok, where corresponding videos have billions of views combined.

In her new memoir, New York City Ballet’s first Asian-American soloist speaks out about racism and sexual bullying in ballet. Now she wants to overhaul the industry from within

When Georgina Pazcoguin was 19 years old, she went to see a doctor about her thighs. A dancer at the New York City Ballet, Pazcoguin had previously had what was known among dancers as “the fat talk” with the company’s then leader, Peter Martins. During their meeting Martins had told her she didn’t “fit in”, silently indicating the area between her backside and her knees. And so, following a recommendation from a friend, she visited the office of one Dr Wilcox, who told her she should consume no more than 720 calories a day – the recommended number for the average woman is closer to 2,000 – and gave her some sealed packets of powder. For the next four months, she subsisted on the powder, plus a single chicken breast and two pounds of spinach or lettuce, which would make up her evening meal.

“No one wants to be told their body is insufficient,” says Pazcoguin, now 36. “I mean, line is essential in my business; there is a certain aesthetic [that is expected]. But I am not an ectomorph. As a dancer you are staring at your body all day long in a mirror. But to try to intimidate me to make me look like this stick figure? Some women are just born a particular way. And there [should be] flexibility within the ballet world for more body types than just this waif-thin idea.”

Lifestyle changes and Covid anxiety have caused a spike in eating disorders, and services are stretched. New treatment is on its way, but timing is crucial

Pheobe Ho of Como, a suburb of Perth, knows the power of the eating disorder voice. The 24-year-old had been struggling with anorexia and bulimia for eight years when she relapsed and was admitted to hospital. After being discharged, she was faced with a months-long wait for psychological therapy from the outpatient service.

“The eating disorder will do everything in its power to justify why you shouldn’t be seeking treatment,” Ho says. “So, if the treatment is not available, it feeds into that. ‘See?’ it says, ‘you don’t need support services, you’re not unwell.’”

Technology and Covid lockdowns blamed for rise in eating disorders and insomnia among young

It was while browsing on social media at the age of 13 that Hannah realised she had an eating disorder. Seeing other girls and women talking about their experiences, she thought: “This is me.”

Since that moment, the now 17-year-old has been on a path to recovery, which includes recently relapsing during the Covid-19 pandemic. She said that after initially seeking support via her GP, it took “about a year to get help”, despite “seeing three different doctors”.