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The eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and related syndromes) are highly distinctive psychiatric disorders. The peak age of onset is 15–25 years—ie, at a developmentally sensitive time. The average illness duration is about 6 years. Young women make up the majority of people with anorexia and bulimia nervosa, with binge eating disorder nearly equally common in both sexes. The prevalence of eating disorder behaviours is rising in high-income countries, especially in combination with obesity. 1 This increase is reflected in rising numbers of these presentations to health services. Moreover, the illness is affecting people at an increasingly younger age. 2 One in every six or seven young women have an eating disorder3 and anorexia nervosa is one of the most common chronic disorders in adolescence—at least as common as type 1 diabetes. Mortality rates are almost …