what my anorexia was doing<\/a> to the people around me.\u201d<\/p>\nMeg spent seven months under the care of the National Health Service. It was the most painful experience of her life, but also the turning point that finally led her to true recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew the stats \u2013 that once you\u2019re unwell for over a decade, like I was, those recovery rates are pretty low. Anorexia is not a choice. But recovery is an active process. I realised I had to engage in that active process and try something different or I would die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meg returned to New Zealand in 2023 and trained as a peer supporter for Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust. <\/p>\n
![\"Meg]()
Meg with Tom and their 20-month-old daughter. Photo \/ Rachael McKenna<\/p>\n
Today, living in Dunedin with Tom, 36, their 20-month-old daughter (whose name they will keep private) and her mother Phil Spriggs, Meg is experiencing a freedom she once thought impossible. Motherhood was also something she never imagined could happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have a period for 15 years. I didn\u2019t think I was ever going to be able to have a family and now I have a daughter and she\u2019s the centre of our world,\u201d smiles Meg.<\/p>\n
Now, the mother of one\u2019s mission is to use her experience to help others find recovery.<\/p>\n
![\"Motherhood]()
Motherhood was something Meg never imagined could happen. Photo \/ NZ Woman’s Weekly<\/p>\n
This month, she is launching JourneyED Eating Disorder Support \u2013 New Zealand\u2019s only registered charity supporting people with eating disorders. <\/p>\n
Anybody over 18 can sign up to its free online peer support group. The charity will also deliver training to the peers who have just been put into the eating disorder services across the country as part of a nationwide government initiative. <\/p>\n
Meg shares, \u201cWhen I look back on my journey, one of the things that was missing was someone who\u2019d been through an eating disorder to sit alongside me and be able to say, \u2018I know where you are and there is hope.\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the Eating Disorders Association of New Zealand (EDANZ), which is an incredible organisation supporting wh\u0101nau and carers, but there wasn\u2019t anything for affected individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo JourneyED wants to create a space where people know that they are loved, seen, heard and valued. Peer support sees the human, not the illness.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Meg once believed anorexia would be with her forever, she now also sees her little girl as the best reason to keep herself safe. <\/p>\n
To support the work of JourneyED Eating Disorder Support Aotearoa or join a free peer support group, visit journeyed.org.nz.<\/p>\n
![\"\"]()
<\/p>\n
Who is most at risk<\/p>\n
In New Zealand, around 62,000 people experience bulimia and 30,000 experience anorexia, while binge-eating disorder is also highly prevalent, affecting roughly 1.9% of adults.<\/p>\n
Meg wants to shift the stereotype that eating disorders affect \u201cmostly young white girls\u201d who want to be thin. <\/p>\n
She explains, \u201cEating disorders are increasing in men [approximately one-third of eating disorder cases are male] and also in older women \u2013 often those who are struggling with hormone and body changes during perimenopause and menopause.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur trans community is also five times more likely to develop an eating disorder. All those people often feel they don\u2019t deserve support because they don\u2019t fit the traditional mould.\u201d <\/p>\n
Meg worries that the rise of weight-loss medications, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, is negatively changing our relationship with food again. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a world that\u2019s bombarded with diet culture all the time,\u201d says Meg. \u201cMy concern is not just for younger people who are being exposed to this on social media, but also for women as we age and the impact this is having on accepting that ageing involves changes in our body.\u201d<\/p>\n
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