The report recommends a move towards early intervention and support for children, young people and adults experiencing mental distress that is centred around their needs.
This review confirms what we've known for years: more young people are in crisis than ever before. At Beat, more than half the calls to our Helpline are from children and young people.
Figures from the Nuffield Trust show that around 200 children a month are now arriving at A&E with an eating disorder serious enough to need emergency care, double the rate before the pandemic. These are children who needed help long before they reached a hospital bed.
Molly knows this all too well. She was diagnosed with anorexia aged just 11, and was so unwell she had to be rushed to intensive care immediately. Her mum had taken her to the GP just two months prior, only to be told it was probably a "phase".
Too many children are still waiting months, sometimes years, for treatment. Some - like Molly - are turned away altogether because they're not judged to be ill enough yet and forced to come back when they're much worse.
And that changes the lives of children like Molly, whose life for the next ten years was hospital appointments and stays in inpatient wards. She describes the years she spent in hospital as "some of the darkest moments of my life". She's now been diagnosed with PTSD as a result.
"During my first hospital stay, I was the youngest by four years. I spent years of my childhood surrounded by much older people experiencing acute mental illness, away from school, my loved ones and normal teenage life.
Inpatient care can be lifesaving and is absolutely necessary for some people - but being admitted to hospital for an eating disorder as a child is a harrowing experience which should be avoided at all costs."
We must do better. Early intervention isn't optional; it's the difference between recovery and a lifelong illness. No parent or teacher should have to work out how bad things need to get before A&E is the only door left open. A young person struggling should be able to get help at the first sign of trouble, not the last.
"I didn’t have much of a childhood at all. It was really difficult to make friends or to go to school. There's a real sense of isolation and loneliness when you've been in inpatient care. When you come out, your peers just can’t understand that experience."
Molly is now recovered and at university, and is passionate about sharing her story to help others. "Early intervention isn’t just about treating an eating disorder sooner," she says.
"It can potentially prevent years of illness, hospital admissions, and the lasting trauma that can come with them."
And of course eating disorders don't stop at age 18. The report also highlights unacceptable differences in standards between child and adult eating disorder services. We know transitioning from child to adult services can be extremely challenging: these gaps must be closed so people are given the right support regardless of their age.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and it's common for the first symptoms to show during childhood. Recovery is always possible, but early intervention gives people the best possible chance at it. It's crucial that everyone has access to the help they deserve, as soon as they need it.
- Beat's CEO, Vanessa Longley