This is why Tess Holliday sharing her anorexia story is important, say eating disorder experts

Eating disorder experts have welcomed American plus-size model Tess Holliday’s announcement that she is recovering from anorexia, saying they hope it will dispel the common misconception that “only very underweight people” can have the illness.

In a post to her Twitter account earlier this week, on 1 May, 35-year-old Holliday told her almost 100,000 followers that she is currently receiving treatment for the eating disorder. She posted: “I’m anorexic and in recovery. I’m not ashamed to say it out loud anymore.

“I’m the result of a culture that celebrates thinness and equates that to worth, but I get to write my own narrative now. I’m finally able to care for a body that I’ve punished my entire life and I am finally free,” she wrote.

The NHS defines anorexia as “an eating disorder and serious mental health condition”. “People who have anorexia try to keep their weight as low as possible by not eating enough food or exercising too much, or both,” its website says. “This can make them very ill because they start to starve. They often have a distorted image of their bodies, thinking they’re fat even when they’re underweight.”

Both men and women – of any age – can get anorexia (and other eating disorders) but it is most common in young women and typically starts in teenage years, says the health service.

Now Holliday’s announcement has been hailed by eating disorder charities, who say it is crucial to “break the stigma” attached to anorexia, as it often means the illness goes undiagnosed.

Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at eating disorder charity Beat tells The Independent: “You can't tell whether someone is unwell simply by looking at them, and it is crucial to break the stigma that only very underweight people can have anorexia.

“Healthcare professionals sometimes fail to spot eating disorders and this is often exacerbated in people who aren't underweight – this is particularly worrying as it can lead to potentially dangerous delays in them accessing treatment,” he added.

Holliday was also quick to shut down comments from people who dismissed her illness due to her weight.

“Not the ‘but you’re fat how are you anorexic’ comments. Y’all don’t know how science and body works huh. My technical diagnosis is anorexia nervosa and yes, I’m still not ashamed. I’m too damn happy for y’all to even come close to dimming my shine,” she wrote on Twitter.

Gemma Oaten, actor and charity manager of Seed Eating Disorder Support Service explains that the official diagnosis, anorexia nervosa, translates as “loss of appetite of the mind”. She stresses that eating disorders are mental health illnesses.

“At no point does it say in the medical description about anorexia nervosa that you have to be emaciated, which is why I think what Tess has done is so important. A number doesn’t equate to what the severity of the illness is because it’s in the mind,” says Oaten.

“An eating disorder affects different people in different ways. It’s really important that Tess has come out and said she’s struggling with anorexia being the weight or plus-size model she’s deemed to be,” Oaten explains. “And when people have commented saying ‘but you’re fat, how are you anorexic’, that is so misinformed. It doesn’t matter how somebody looks physically when they are going through mental torture and pain.”

In the UK, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health disorder. The latest report on funding for mental health research by MQ Mental Health Research found that eating disorders receive just 1.2 per cent of funding dedicated to mental health research every year.

“Anorexia is a serious mental illness but it is possible to make a full recovery. The sooner someone gets the treatment they need, the more likely this is, so we would urge anyone who feels they may be affected to contact their GP as soon as possible,” Quinn says.

For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this piece, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677.

NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040.