ED Awareness Week… But Is the Industry Aware?

It’s 2023 and I realise that there is no specific care pathway for performers with eating disorders or disordered eating.

No clinician trained in the realities of tech weeks, touring schedules, costume fittings, casting panels, or constant mirror exposure.

No services that understand the pressures of drama school and the training that can cause a severed connection between mind and body.

Performers with eating disorders are either treated as mental health patients or as sports athletes.

Rarely as both.

It’s 2025 and I realise that performer-specific PTs and dance studios are not pre-screening for eating disorders or disordered eating before signing on clients.

In an industry already saturated with aesthetic pressure, weight cycling, and comparison culture, we are still marketing “fibre loading,” “fat loss alternatives,” and rapid body transformation packages- some charging upwards of £900 for a 12-week programme.

No screening.

No referral pathways.

No safeguards.

Just optimisation culture in an environment already primed for vulnerability.

It’s 2026 and I realise that there is no mandatory ED-informed training within major dance teacher certifying bodies.

We require first aid.

We require safeguarding for abuse.

We require insurance and risk assessments.

But we do not require education on eating disorders- one of the most prevalent mental health risks in aesthetic and performance-based environments.

No compulsory modules on compulsive exercise.

No structured guidance on removing weight-centric language from technique classes.

No prevention, intervention or signposting training.

It’s February 2026 and NHS wait times for eating disorder support are reported to be between 12 months and 2 years in many areas.

A year.

Sometimes two.

In an illness with one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric condition.

In an illness where early intervention drastically improves outcomes.

So here is the reality:

A performer begins struggling.

They continue training.

They are praised for their discipline.

They lose weight.

They are cast.

They are told they “look strong.”

They ask for help.

They are placed on a waiting list.

For 12 months.

For 24 months.

And during that time, they are still in the same environment.

The same mirrors.

The same costumes.

The same language.

The same pressure.

Or… their eating disorder doesn’t fit our uneducated, false, and harmful stereotype of what “struggling” is supposed to look like.

Many performers with eating disorders who do not present with visible weight changes fly under the radar. They are not taken seriously. They are told they “look fine.” They internalise the message that they are not “sick enough.”

And so they enter the shame cycle- questioning themselves, minimising their symptoms, delaying help- all because the industry is not equipped to recognise the less visible signs of disordered eating, nor clear on where and how to signpost someone appropriately.

When we only recognise crisis once it is physically obvious, we miss the majority of those who are struggling silently.

We cannot talk about ED Awareness Week without talking about access to care.

And we cannot talk about access to care without acknowledging that when support takes one to two years to reach someone, prevention inside the industry becomes not optional- but essential.

It’s 2026 and we are still calling visible weight loss “commitment.”

Still mistaking restriction for “discipline.”

Still rewarding burnout.

Still equating smaller bodies with professionalism.

And then we post about awareness.

Awareness without structural change is performance.

If we are serious about eating disorder awareness in the performing arts industry, then awareness must look like:

Mandatory ED-informed education within dance and performance qualifications.

Pre-screening and ethical referral pathways for high-intensity training environments.

Clear boundaries around weight-loss marketing within performance spaces even if it is disguised as something else and the marketer has pure intentions.

Language reform inside studios.

Collaboration with clinicians who understand performer-specific pressures.

Because when NHS support can take up to two years to access, the studio becomes the first line of defence.

And right now, it isn’t equipped.

This isn’t about blame.

It’s about responsibility.

If the industry wants longevity, resilience, and truly sustainable performers, then eating disorder literacy is not a “nice to have.”

It is safeguarding.

It is duty of care.

It is overdue.