Spotting and supporting eating disorders in school: recommendations from school staff

Abstract

Eating disorders have a high rate of onset in school-aged children. School staff are in an excellent position to spot the early warning signs and offer support during recovery. This article explores the findings from focus groups conducted with 63 members of staff from 29 UK schools with the aims of (i) understanding whether they are in a good position to support students with eating disorders and (ii) to generate recommendations regarding school staff's training needs for spotting and supporting eating disorders. Participants took part in semi-structured focus groups. These were transcribed and analysed using content analysis principles. Five key themes emerged: (i) many staff do not have a basic understanding of eating disorders, (ii) eating disorders are taboo in the staffroom, (iii) staff do not feel comfortable talking to students about eating disorders, (iv) support is needed to ensure the teacher-parent relationship is a positive one and (v) school staff would welcome practical ideas for how they can best support students during the recovery period. The findings show that school staff currently feel ill-equipped to support students with eating disorders and endorse a need for focused training for school staff to better enable them to support students with eating disorders.

Impact of the Quality of Pastoral Care on the Incidence of Eating Disorder Symptoms in Schools

“…This aligns with NHS England's guidance which highlights how UK schools should be part of the treatment referral process [26]. Given that teachers have previously reported a lack of knowledge and skills around supporting students with EDs [7], these data further support the need for greater investment in nationwide teacher training to improve practice and harness the strengths of schools and their staff to reduce the incidence of ED symptoms in schools.…”

“…What is known from a previous study which conducted focus groups in 29 UK schools, including 63 staff members, is that although teaching and pastoral staff were aware of EDs amongst their student population, they reported lacking knowledge regarding how best to help at all stages of the illness [7]. In response to this, a range of model policies, skills-based resources and training packages were developed, focused on improving understanding around EDs in schools and offering school-wide policies to support students affected by EDs and developing skills to support recovery [8].…”

Pathways to specialist care for eating disorders: An Italian multicentre study

“…Our data tend to show that, besides some virtuous exceptions, the evolution of primary and secondary care has still to be achieved in routine conditions to truly meet ED patients' needs. This evidence, together with the above reported tendency of a decreasing age at onset for EDs, also calls for greater collaboration with other professionals (such as school counsellors, psychologists, and teachers, as well as sport counsellors) in order to ensure proper prevention and timely recovery from ED during adolescence (Knightsmith, Treasure, & Schmidt, ).…”

Policy Actions to Address Weight‐Based Bullying and Eating Disorders in Schools: Views of Teachers and School Administrators

“…Given that both weight‐related bullying and disordered eating behaviors affect a significant portion of school‐aged youth, schools have been identified as an important setting for interventions to address weight‐related bullying and eating disorders . Although different types of prevention and intervention programs to address these problems have been studied, implementation of such opportunities remains absent in most schools, and teachers and school personnel have little (or no) knowledge and training to address these issues with students . In addition, there has been little action to implement policy‐level changes that could have a broader impact on addressing these problems in schools.…”

“…[23][24][25][26] Although different types of prevention and intervention programs to address these problems have been studied, implementation of such opportunities remains absent in most schools, and teachers and school personnel have little (or no) knowledge and training to address these issues with students. [27][28][29] In addition, there has been little action to implement policy-level changes that could have a broader impact on addressing these problems in schools. For example, only 1 state (Virginia) 30 requires schools to promote screening of eating disorders, and only 3 states (New York, New Hampshire, and Maine) have antibullying laws that enumerate body weight or physical appearance as a characteristic that places students at risk for bullying.…”