Media representation continues to fail our young people, write Carmel Offord and Jessica Woodfall.

A recent report in the Argus outlined the issue of eating disorders in young girls.

Different female celebrities were highlighted as examples – each woman outlined the main reasons they became anorexic.

It’s no surprise that they all felt undue pressure to look a certain way. Hollywood has long had unrealistic expectations of women and how they ‘should’ look.

It’s not just women affected. In the UK 11 per cent of the 1.6 million sufferers of eating disorders are male.

Men now suffer more from unrealistic image expectations and this is a major factor in the increase in male cases year upon year.

Whilst not all factors are to do with media representation, the majority are precisely because there is a continued focus on ‘the ideal body’.

Human bodies come in all shapes and sizes and the idea that there is a preferred version continues to damage all people, especially young people as they learn about the world.

Most develop an eating disorder from age 15 but people as old as 70 suffer from this illness.

And it is an illness; it is not a choice nor is it about food specifically, but about control. The first point of call for someone suffering from an eating disorder should be their GP who can refer them to a specialist centre.

People can also contact the charity Beat if they need a confidential chat on 0845 634 1414.

Carmel Offord and Jessica Woodfall are feminists and activists for the No More Page 3 campaign.

They founded Cut It Out UK which campaigns against everyday sexism.

@jesswoodfall @CarmelOfford