There is a clear link between eating disorders and social media and the wider media. Often, apps that change the appearance of the shape and size of the body can lead to the exacerbation of eating disorders, by encouraging and normalising an unrealistic notion of what is acceptable in terms of physical appearance. There is pressure on social media influencers to edit their posts, and algorithms reward those with social media content that attracts attention through images of alleged perfection, images that feed a culture that rejects diversity and reality. This leads young people in particular to the understandable conclusion that they have to replicate the false images of perfection that they see on their accounts.

We therefore have to do more to celebrate diversity and challenge the perverse culture and its dangerous messages that can be transmitted to social media users through these images. I hope the new curriculum will provide sufficient space for ensuring that young people have an understanding of how stereotypical images of perfect bodies have developed and how they're encouraged by social media, and, in understanding this, will have the confidence to challenge this and avoid the harm that can come from this. In addition, we need to see action from the Government working with social media companies to reduce the impact of these platforms on the people of Wales in terms of triggering and intensifying eating disorders. 

Eating disorders have long been considered, historically, a female illness—a prejudiced attitude that can lead to deficiencies in terms of treatment and diagnosis, as it's possible to ignore or misinterpret symptoms that may be related to an eating disorder in men or LGBTQ+ people. Indeed, one study found that about 40 per cent of men who suffer from an eating disorder are misdiagnosed, and that the majority of their symptoms are wrongly attributed to anxiety. Research also shows that individuals of different gender identities experience the impact of their eating disorders in different ways.

All of this again points to the need for a new framework that considers the individual journey of each person with an eating disorder, and that there is a need for funding, research and accountability to prevent the cause and effects of these devastating and traumatic disorders—disorders that are preventable. Thank you.