More than 3.5 million people in the UK could now be living with an eating disorder, a figure that dramatically reshapes understanding of one of the country’s deadliest mental illnesses.
Analysis by national eating disorder charity Beat estimates that around one in 15 people aged 11 and over are living with an eating disorder.
This is almost three times higher than the charity’s previous estimate for the UK of 1.25 million people, a figure that has been widely cited since 2017.
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health
NHS rollout for ‘life-changing’ pill which helps MS patients walk more easily
A twice-daily pill which helps people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to walk more easily is to be rolled out on the NHS.
Thousands of patients in England will be eligible for fampridine, which has been hailed as “life-changing”.
Everything you need to know
It is the first drug designed to improve walking ability in people with MS, an incurable autoimmune disease which affects the brain and spinal cord.
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Symptoms can include tiredness, dizziness, tingling in different parts of the body, muscle cramps, vision problems and memory problems.
Why is this drug so important?
Until now, MS patients with walking difficulties have been offered physiotherapy, walking aids or devices to support their feet.
Fampridine, also known as Fampyra, works by acting as a signal booster, helping to restore electrical signals running along damaged nerves and allowing muscles to function better.
LIFESTYLE
2 min read
The expert view
Walking difficulties can have a huge impact on the freedom and independence of people with MS, so this signal-boosting pill could be life-changing for thousands of patients.
Professor Frankie Swords, NHS national medical director
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A closer look at the detail
Officials estimate that around 5,000 people with MS will be eligible for the drug in the first year.
It is recommended for MS patients with certain Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores.
(Photo: Peter Carruthers/Getty).
The EDSS is a tool used by medics to monitor disability caused by MS. Those with a score of between four – able to walk without an aid or rest for around 500 metres – and seven, which include patients who use wheelchairs, will be offered fampridine.
Weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy ‘linked to hair loss’
Weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy are linked to an increased risk of hair loss, researchers say.
Two blue insulin pens wrapped with a yellow measuring tape on a pink background, symbolizing diabetes management, weight loss, medical treatment, and healthcare concepts. drugs injection ozempic – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
What you need to know
People on GLP-1 agonist drugs have been reporting hair loss to regulators, but a new study on around 50,000 people appears to firm up the link.
Experts used electronic patient data from the University of Pennsylvania Health System to compare rates of alopecia hair loss in adults using GLP-1s to manage diabetes with those on other drugs.
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Analysis
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A closer look at the detail
The team noted that regulators in the US have been informed of the link between the drugs and hair loss, particularly for semaglutide (Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro).
So far in 2026, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received 399 reports of hair loss relating to tirzepatide.
It has also received 148 reports of hair loss linked to semaglutide.
LIFESTYLE
3 min read
How was the study carried out?
For the new study, the team looked at people with type 2 diabetes on GLP-1 receptor agonists or other types of diabetes drugs known as SGLT-2 inhibitors, or DPP-4 inhibitors.
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It can be normal to shed up to 100-150 hairs a day (Photo: Predrag Popovski via Getty Images)
In total, 12,004 patients using GLP-1s were compared with 15,221 using SGLT-2 inhibitors and a further 11,964 GLP-1 users were compared with 11,233 DPP-4 inhibitor users.
37% higher risk of alopecia
After adjusting for factors that could influence the results, such as age and weight, researchers found using GLP-1 drugs were associated with a 37 per cent higher risk of alopecia than use of SGLT-2 inhibitors.
GLP-1s were also linked to a 68% higher risk of hair loss than use of DPP-4 inhibitors.
LIFESTYLE
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LIFESTYLE
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money
Inflation drops more than expected
Inflation slowed by more than expected in the latest reading on Wednesday – but experts don’t think that interest rates will follow this year.
The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation hit 2.6 per cent in the year to June, down from 2.8 per cent a month earlier. Most economists had expected a fall to around 2.7 per cent.
What will happen next?
But experts expect the figure to pick up from next month – once July’s energy price rises are factored in to the equation.
And as a result they say cuts to the Bank of England base rate in 2026 are likely off the table.
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SAVING AND BANKING
3 min read
What happened to inflation?
In June’s figures, CPI dropped to 2.6 per cent – the lowest rate since March last year. A spike is expected in July though, because the price cap on energy prices rose by 13 per cent at the start of the month.
Energy prices have soared due to the US-Israel war with Iran (Photo: Getty)
They want to understand how big of a portion they can take from their pot
“The UK will see inflation push higher from here – potentially pushing closer to 3.3 per cent to 3.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year as base effects, food price rises and energy price rises catch up with households,” said Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank Research.
What about interest rates?
The Bank of England base rate, colloquially called interest rates, sits at 3.75 per cent.
The rate tends to come down as inflation looks like it’s heading towards the Bank’s 2 per cent target.
Experts think the spike in inflation expected later this year will stop the Bank cutting rates this month, or indeed throughout 2026.
But they don’t expect any hikes either.
LIFESTYLE
4 min read
Mortgage rates are set to rise (Image: sorbetto/Getty Images/Digital Vision Vectors)
What does this mean for mortgages?
The Bank of England interest rate affects mortgage rates in numerous ways. No cuts or rises means those with variable or tracker mortgages will see their home loan price stay the same throughout this year – if predictions are correct.
Fixed rate mortgages, however, are heavily priced on swap rates, which follow predictions of where the Bank of England base rate will go next.
The charity says it suggests that illnesses including anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder and ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) are more widespread than previously understood, adding to growing demands for major reforms to treatment services and the way doctors are trained to recognise them.
Clinicians, researchers and MPs warned at a recent All-Party Parliamentary Group meeting that eating disorder patients are still being denied treatment until they become critically ill, with outdated thresholds such as body mass index (BMI) continuing to influence access to care despite years of criticism.
Medical students ‘get just two hours of training on eating disorders’
An investigation by The i Paper earlier this year also found inconsistencies in how Britain’s 44 medical schools teach future doctors about eating disorders, raising questions about whether they are adequately prepared to recognise and manage the illness.
Several universities agreed to review or strengthen teaching as a result of the findings, others declined to support calls for greater training or failed to respond altogether.
According to Beat, medical students currently receive an average of just two hours of eating disorder teaching across an entire medical degree.
One medical student living with an eating disorder told The i Paper they had learned more through personal experience than through medical school.
“We had probably less than one to two hours on a case about eating disorders and management options, which is genuinely diabolical,” they said.
Campaigners argue that leaves many newly qualified doctors ill-equipped to recognise illnesses that often present without the stereotypical symptoms many clinicians still expect. That gap can have devastating consequences.
Hospital admissions for eating disorders in England have risen sharply in recent years, with Royal College of Psychiatrists data showing an 84 per cent increase over five years.
Children and young people have seen particularly steep rises, while increasing numbers of men are also requiring treatment.
Experts have repeatedly warned that delayed diagnosis makes recovery harder and more expensive, with patients frequently becoming severely unwell before accessing specialist care.
Tom Quinn, Beat’s director of external affairs, said the new estimate reinforced the scale of the challenge facing the health service.
He said: “It is highly likely that eating disorders are significantly more common than we previously understood.”
Concerns patients are not reaching NHS until crisis point
Beat stresses that its new analysis cannot be directly compared to the 2017 figure because of changes in methodology and diagnostic criteria, but its statisticians found a 78 per cent probability that the true prevalence of eating disorders in the UK is higher than previously believed.
The figures are based on the national mental health surveys of children and adults in England, with researchers adjusting the adult data to account for the limitations of screening tools. In the absence of UK-wide prevalence studies, the estimates were then applied across the wider UK population.
Campaigners are concerned that some of those living with conditions are not being recognised until crisis point, piling further pressure on an NHS already struggling with long waiting lists and overstretched specialist services.
The economic cost of eating disorders is also substantial, with previous estimates suggesting eating disorders cost the UK economy billions of pounds each year through healthcare costs, lost productivity and the long-term impact of delayed treatment.
With Andy Burnham now in Downing Street, advocates hope there is an opportunity for renewed political interest in the subject.
“We need services that reflect that reality. Early intervention saves lives, but that depends on healthcare professionals being able to recognise eating disorders quickly and confidently,” Quinn said.