Our best estimate is that about 3.5 million children, young people and adults in the UK are living with an eating disorder.
That is more people than the combined population of Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. With 1 in 20 children, young people and adults most likely affected in the UK – far more than previously thought.
This number is an estimate, so the real number could be lower or higher. Nevertheless, the estimate was worked out using the latest UK survey data based on the advice of experts, which suggests the true number is likely to be significantly higher than our 2017 estimate of 1.25 million.
We cannot directly compare this new estimate with the 2017 estimate. This is because:
There is still a lot that we do not know and more research is needed, but the evidence strongly suggests that eating disorders are more common than previously thought, perhaps far more common.
We used information from two national surveys:
Both surveys were conducted in England. We applied their findings to the whole population of the UK. We did this because there are no other surveys like these that are carried out across the whole of the UK. We also did this because we believe that eating disorders are likely to be about as common in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland as they are in England.
For children aged 11 to 15, we used the NHS mental health of children and young people survey. It found that about 2 or 3 in 100 children aged 11 to 16 may have an eating disorder. This is about 100,000 children. The real number could be between about 64,000 and 148,000.
Working out the number for people aged 16 and over was more complicated. The APMS was the main source of this information. It included a screening tool called SCOFF which uses a short set of five questions to help spot people who may have an eating disorder.
In the APMS, around 9 in 100 people aged 16 and over were identified with a possible eating disorder. But the SCOFF questionnaire is not perfect because:
We have allowed for these possible mistakes by using information from a UK study about how well the SCOFF works.
That study found that the SCOFF:
After this adjustment, the estimate for people aged 16 and over was about 5 to 6 in every 100 people, which is around 3.4 million people
As is often the case with statistics, there is still uncertainty around this number.
One reason for this is that the study used to check the accuracy of the SCOFF was quite small, being based on interviews with 145 people. It was carried out in a diverse London community, but it may not fully match the whole UK population.
Still, while the sample size here was relatively small it is the best tool available to turn the data from the SCOFF survey into something that can predict how common eating disorders are. Using the data without adjusting it could lead to overestimating the figure.
It is important for us to say that the SCOFF screening tool was designed only with Anorexia and Bulimia in mind. This means that it may be less likely to spot whether someone has a different type of eating disorder. It is particularly unlikely to be an effective tool for spotting if someone might have ARFID. Also, the research that has been done to test it has often not included many males or older people for example.
So, we cannot say for sure that our estimate is right. But this is typical in statistics. What we can say is that our estimate is based on the best available evidence following the advice of experts in the field. And what our analysis shows is that eating disorders are likely to be significantly more common than previously thought. Eating disorders are not rare, unfortunately they are extremely common.
How we estimated how many people in the UK have an eating disorder
23 July 2026
Based on an analysis of the most recent UK survey data, is that around 3.5 million people in the UK have an eating disorder.
15 June 2021
Prevalence figures for eating disorders in the UK from 2017. New figures were published in 2026.
The SCOFF screening tool is widely used to screen for possible eating disorders. The acronym SCOFF uses the first letters of some key words used in each of the questions: Sick, Control, One stone, Fat and Food. The SCOFF questions were developed in the UK as a quick and simple way for non-specialists to spot when someone may have an eating disorder. They are not used to make a formal diagnosis.