Most people assume that those with eating disorders are emaciated, cis, white teenagers from privileged backgrounds, because those are the examples the media chooses to portray. But, this stereotype is harmful because it is so inaccurate: eating disorders affect people of all ages, genders and backgrounds, and the majority of sufferers are not medically underweight. 

I want the world to realise that whilst eating disorders DO have a profound impact on sufferers' physical health, they are primarily mental health conditions. The level of distress that an individual's eating disorder causes them can not be determined by their weight, shape, or size.

Having suffered extensively myself, I know that these conditions can have a profound impact on how you feel about yourself, and how you interact with others, even those you care about the most. I found myself thinking and behaving in ways that were so far removed from who I wanted to be and I lost sight of what I really wanted out of life. 

My eating disorder didn't just shrink my body from time to time: it shrank my whole life. Yet, unfortunately many people in my life only ever acknowledged my pain when they could see it reflected in the size of my jeans.

There's a new saying that's become popular on social media recently: "health at every size". It made me think about how sufferers experience eating disorders at every size. The good news, however, is that, with support, people can recover at every size!

There will be someone around you suffering that you're not aware of because they are too afraid of being judged on how they look to speak up, but by giving to this cause, and showing them that you are supportive of eating disorder recovery, you just might give them the courage they need to access treatment and regain control of their life.

EDAW this year is all about recognising eating disorders early on so that people have a better chance of making a full recovery. As someone who didn't have access to early prevention, I talk from experience when I say it made a difference to my journey. But we can all work together to change that, whether its by donating money to charity, giving emotional support to a loved one, increasing your awareness of eating disorders, or even trying to heal your own relationship with food-every effort made to eradicate eating disorders counts!