Eating Disorder Safe Principles

What is this about? 

Throughout the development of the National Strategy, NEDC consistently heard from people with lived experience, their families, carers and supports that there is a need to change the way that society broadly speaks about health, food, minds and bodies. Through our consultations and working groups, people told us about the importance of safe messaging being delivered across healthcare, education, community services, sport, workplaces and social media.

Consistent and safe messages in the ways that professionals speak about bodies, teach about nutrition, develop health and related policies and accommodate difference can help to minimise unintended risks and harms in relation to eating disorders, disordered eating and body image distress.

What are the principles and how do they work? 

The Eating Disorder Safe principles are a group of 19 interrelated vision statements to create environments where people’s experiences of health, food, mind and body are safe and supported. These principles aim to minimize the risk and harm associated with eating disorders. 

The principles are grouped into five broad categories: Health, Food, Mind, Body and Harm Minimisation. For the full list of principles, expand the boxes below.

 Health

Lifespan approaches: Families are supported to experience and model positive relationships with food, bodies and movement from the earliest opportunity and across the lifespan.

Disability and chronic health conditions: The unique relationships between eating, chronic illness, disability and experiences of healthcare are acknowledged and addressed.

Inclusive communication: Communications use size-inclusive, non-stigmatising language and imagery in respect of health, food, minds and bodies.

Movement: People are supported to experience movement and exercise in ways that promote their overall wellbeing, including their emotions, social connections, and physical and mental health.

 Food

Neutral food language: Neutral language is used to describe food and its properties and food messaging is appropriate for its audience.

Dietary advice: Dietary advice is given in a weight neutral, culturally and developmentally appropriate manner, by people with appropriate qualifications and experience according to their scope of practice.

Food security: Food security is addressed to support safe relationships with food and eating at individual and population levels.

Diet culture: Diet culture and its far-reaching consequences are understood, reduced and ultimately eliminated, with actions based on contemporary evidence.

Mind

Mental health stigma: Mental health stigma and its harms in relation to health, food, mind and body are of concern and must be eliminated.

Relationship between mental health and food: The bidirectional relationship between food, eating and mental health is recognised, within the context of individual, social, cultural and economic factors.

Body

Inclusive environments: Settings where people live, learn, work, play and receive help are inclusive and welcoming for people of all sizes, shapes, weights, genders, sexualities, cultures, neurotypes and abilities.

Neutral language about bodies: Neutral language is used to describe bodies at all ages and stages of development, all sizes, shapes, abilities and ethnicities.

Non-discrimination: Size, shape or weight are not used as a standalone measure of health or wellbeing, used as a measure of skill, aptitude or performance, or a barrier to education, employment or civic participation.

Weight stigma: Weight stigma and its consequences are of concern and must be eliminated.

Systemic factors: System-level drivers of eating disorder risk, for example institutional weight stigma, diet culture, medical and health professional weight bias, are addressed.

Harm Minimisation

Alternative metrics: Alternatives to weight-focused activities and outcomes are prioritised as far as possible (e.g., other health, quality of life, performance, and wellbeing metrics).

Identification and response: Recognising and responding to eating disorder warning signs and symptoms in all people and bodies is a responsibility of all people working in high-risk settings.

Weight stigma in health: Weight stigma has no place in the healthcare setting, no matter the condition being treated.

Risk management: Eating disorder risk is a consideration when making decisions around a person's health, care, learning, work or sports participation.

 

The Eating Disorder Safe principles are broad in nature. This is so that they can be applied across a wide range of settings. This approach intends that, over time, people and communities receive consistent and safe messages from healthcare, education, workplaces, media, social media and more.

To support wide uptake of the Eating Disorder Safe principles, NEDC has produced six How-To Guides, which set out suggested actions to put each principle into practice, as well as ‘quick wins’, reflection activities, a self-check tool and an action planning template. How-To Guides are available for:

• Individuals and families
• Frontline workers (all disciplines)
• Service managers and planners
• Researchers and policymakers
• Media and communication professionals and related platforms
• Workplaces.

How do the Eating Disorder Safe principles address cultural safety?

NEDC has been working in collaboration with Southern Cross University and the Public Health Association of Australia to develop a First Nations-specific Companion Document to the Eating Disorder Safe principles. ‘First Nations Perspectives: Strengthening the Eating Disorder Safe Principles’ is a step towards developing culturally safe and relevant approaches to eating disorder prevention and response among First Nations communities. It sets out a definition of cultural safety in the context of eating disorders, discusses key historical and contemporary issues that uniquely affect First Nations people and communities, outlines key Indigenist approaches to health and wellbeing, and sets out practice tips and case studies.

The concepts within the Companion Document have been woven throughout all other Eating Disorder Safe documents and resources. All approaches to implementing the Eating Disorder Safe principles should account for the specific needs and perspectives of First Nations peoples, recognising that they are active and important members of the wider society.

What’s coming up? 

Now that the Eating Disorder Safe principles have been launched, NEDC will begin rolling out specific projects aimed at putting the principles into practice within key contexts. We will keep this page updated as new resources become available.

We invite anyone who is interested in developing their own Eating Disorder Safe Action Plan to use the How-To Guides to find suggested actions relevant to their context. Refer to the coloured boxes on the right of the screen (or at the bottom of this page if you are accessing this page via a mobile device) to find the guide that is right for you. 

If you have a case study to share about your own Eating Disorder Safe activities, we would love to know about it! Please email nationalstrategy@nedc.com.au.

National Strategy 2023-2033

The development and implementation of the Eating Disorder Safe principles aligns with 14 key actions from the National Strategy, spanning Prevention, Identification, Treatment, Psychosocial & Recovery Support, and Workforce. For more information, refer to our National Strategy pages on this website.

With thanks

NEDC and our partners have been supported in this work by an Expert Advisory Group and a First Nations Governance Group. We thank all members for their contributions, which have greatly enriched our thinking and will lead to much greater impact.

The launch of the Eating Disorder Safe principles and Companion Document

We launched the Eating Disorder Safe principles on the 24 July 2024. You can watch a recording of the launch here.

About the artwork - Guidance & Protection

The artwork for the Companion Document, Guidance and Protection, is by Zyana Gall.

Symbolism:

• Starting from the middle, working out:
• Child
• Place / Site
• Group of people
• Meeting place
• Rain
• Sun
• Bush Tucker – Plants
• Bush Tucker – Animals
• Dots and lines of guidance towards and within
• Elder at the top – within the black neck
• Spirit – the large entity
• Behind Spirit are its 2 shields – transparent in appearance and everlasting
• Dark outside layer – outside world with its constant spears, being deflected by Spirit’s 2 shields

The story

“The world always has something to throw to attack; causing us harm. These are shown in the form of spears, representing physical, mental and emotional harms done to us, but also the negative self-talk that we do to ourselves, which are like needles piercing our mind.

When we are young, we are born into this world with a trusting soul, so we learn and are guided by those around us. This is why trauma/harm done to us when we are young, affects us right down to our core, and stays with us.

As we grow older, we then become one of those within that group of people that guides the young. It is at this time that we have an opportunity to either be an Elder or be one of the ones who guide our young to an Elder, represented by the connecting dots and lines.

Our Elders are guided by Spirit and tell us to stay true to our old and precious ways of eating, knowing, doing, and being. This means holding close our connection to the land, our Country, as this is how we heal and connect to Spirit. Spirit, depicted as the main figure, guides us and shields us from all those spears and helps us to heal.

In the end, it all comes down to your core, to what happened to you, as this never leaves us. But stand strong in who you are, your identity and our old and precious ways; Spirit will protect you, and Country and Spirit will guide and heal you.”

Learning more about the artwork

You can hear Zyana speak about the artwork at the launch of the Eating Disorder Safe principles. Watch that here.