Report on eating disorders highlights need for more support

Australia’s first socio-economic impact report on eating disorders, launched by the Butterfly Foundation this week, has highlighted the need to improve the level of service delivery to some of Australia’s most vulnerable people.

More than 913,000 people in Australia currently have an eating disorder, at a socio economic cost of $69.7 billion.

“I commend the Butterfly Foundation on the publication of this important work, which I hope will be the foundation for a lot more work to come”, said Adjunct Associate Professor Kim Ryan, CEO of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses.

“The Federal Government has committed just over $1.9 million to the Butterfly Foundation for its support and information services for people with an eating disorder, and I hope this funding continues”, Adj. Assoc. Professor Ryan said.

“The Government’s commitment to supporting those with an eating disorder is to be commended, but this report shows us there is still much more that needs to be done”, said Adj. Assoc. Professor Ryan.

“We know that eating disorders are not well understood across both health and the broader community. Up-skilling health and mental health professionals in understanding and identifying eating disorders will be essential in addressing this unacceptable mortality rate and socio economic cost”, Adj. Assoc. Professor Ryan said.

(Source: The Australian College of Mental Health Nurses)