Research

NEDC synthesises research evidence, clinical expertise and lived experience in national standards and workforce initiatives to build an effective, equitable and accessible system of care for all Australians. Research can sit across or within all areas of the stepped system of care including prevention, identification, initial response, treatment, and psychosocial and recovery support for people experiencing eating disorders and their families, supports, and communities.

In line with NEDC’s role to promote and communicate evidence-based information on eating disorders and associated content such as disordered eating and body image, we aim to support people in being able to find and learn about research in eating disorders through:

Supporting you to find and access eating disorder research through journal articles and online databases
Providing research ‘highlights’ designed to draw attention to new and important research in the field of eating disorders, in particular to studies related to the stepped system of care for eating disorders in Australia. Within this, we provide a brief summary of the importance of the highlighted research and facilitate access to the original journal article where possible.
Providing an opportunity for researchers to promote their research study to potential participants
Providing opportunities for people looking to participate in research studies to see what current opportunities are available across Australia and contact the corresponding researchers.

At NEDC, we do not conduct primary research, i.e., NEDC does not run studies and collect data. NEDC does conduct secondary research (i.e., synthesising and analysing existing data). These reviews are available in the Resources section of the website.

National Research Strategy

In 2021 the first Australian Eating Disorders Research and Translation Strategy (2021-2031) was published. This Strategy was commissioned by Australian Government Department of Health and led by the InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorder Research.

This co-designed Strategy was developed through broad national consultation and collaboration across the sector and provides a framework for how to build an exceptional research culture that generates innovative co-designed research to transform practice, inform policy, and meaningfully impact the wellbeing of all people at risk of developing, or living with an eating disorder, and their families and supports.

The Strategy outlines five strategic priorities and provides a framework for bringing together partners across government, health, academia, research, private and nongovernment organisation, and people with a lived experience, their families and supports. The Strategy also outlines the Top 10 research and translation priorities. You can access the Australian Eating Disorders Research and Translation Policy here.

National Eating Disorder Research and Translation Centre

The Australian Government Department of Health has awarded the University of Sydney a $13 million four-year grant which will fund the establishment of the Australian Eating Disorders Research and Translation Centre. The InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, a collaboration between the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, will lead a national consortium of partners to develop the Centre and implement the Australian Eating Disorders Research and Translation Strategy. Read more here.

Eating disorder academic journals

Academic journals contain articles outlining primary and secondary research (see above for explanation) as well as other articles such as case reports and commentaries. Research articles are peer reviewed i.e., the research article is reviewed by experts in the field who decide whether it is fit for publication, or whether it requires further refinement. This ensures that the best quality articles are published.

Research articles relating to eating disorders, disordered eating and body image can be found across various psychological, medical, and nutrition journals. However, the below list outlines journals that have a focus, or partial focus on eating disorders, disordered eating, and/or body image.

Access to journal articles can be ‘open’ or ‘closed’. An ‘open access’ article indicates that the article is available online to anyone without a subscription or fee. A ‘closed access’ article indicates that only a summary (‘abstract’) of the article is available to everyone online. In order to access the full article, one is required to pay a fee, subscribe or access the paper through membership of a university library.

Journal of Eating Disorders

Access: open access

Editors-in-chief: Phillipa Hay & Stephen Touyz

Website: jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com