Free resources for eating difficulties and body image
This page lists free, trustworthy information for anyone worried about their eating, their weight or how they feel about their body, and for people worried about someone else. It includes UK health and charity information, a structured CBT workbook, and official sources in German, Dutch and French.
Eating disorders are serious mental health problems, not choices or phases. They affect people of every age, size, gender and background, and you do not have to be underweight to be unwell. The approaches with the most research behind them are forms of cognitive behavioural therapy, and for binge eating, guided self-help based on CBT is often the first step offered.
Body image worries are much more common than eating disorders and can still take up a lot of room in your head. Pregnancy, ageing, illness and moving to a culture with different beauty standards can all stir them up.
Please see a doctor early if you are restricting food, bingeing, making yourself sick, or exercising to make up for eating. Eating disorders can affect the heart and other organs, and medical checks matter. Self-help works best alongside professional support, not instead of it. If you feel unsafe, use the helplines page.
Eating disorders
NHS (UK National Health Service) · Guide · psychoeducation · English
The NHS overview of the main eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, ARFID and OSFED, with signs to look for in yourself and warning signs in others. Separate pages cover causes, getting help and treatment.
Clear and reliable, and good at explaining the less familiar diagnoses.
For: Adults worried about their own eating or someone else's · Free to read; NHS website content, not openly licensed for republishing.
Learn about eating disorders
Beat (UK eating disorder charity) · Website · psychoeducation · English, Welsh
Beat's information hub on what eating disorders are, the mix of causes, signs and symptoms, and going to the doctor. It is firm that recovery is possible and that getting help early improves the chances. Beat also runs online support groups and a helpline, though the helpline only serves people in the UK.
The UK's leading eating disorder charity, written with care for people who may be ambivalent about getting help.
For: Anyone affected by an eating disorder, including family and friends · Free to read; not openly licensed.
Break Free From ED (CCI workbook)
Centre for Clinical Interventions, WA Health · Workbook · CBT · English
A fourteen-module workbook based on CBT for eating disorders, covering what keeps eating problems going, self-monitoring, regular eating, binge eating, purging, driven exercise, body checking and avoidance, and core beliefs. Information sheets on physical health and starvation effects sit alongside it.
A thorough, evidence-based workbook from a public mental health service. It can be used alone, but works best with support from a clinician who is also checking your physical health.
For: Adults with disordered eating, ideally working with a professional · Free to download for personal use; copyright Government of Western Australia.
Body image
Mental Health Foundation (UK charity) · Guide · psychoeducation · English
Explains what body image is, how it links to low mood and eating problems, and what shapes it, from social media to life changes such as pregnancy, menopause and ageing, and cultural expectations. It links to tips and to the Foundation's research on body image.
One of the few reputable free sources on body image that is not about diagnosis.
For: Adults unhappy with how they feel about their bodies · Free to read; not openly licensed.
Essstörungen
gesundheitsinformation.de, Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), Germany · Guide · psychoeducation · German
A German overview of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, with linked pages on how to recognise an eating disorder, causes, treatment options and information for parents and relatives.
Independent and evidence-based, with no advertising.
For: German speakers affected by eating disorders, and their families · Free to read; not openly licensed.
Essstörungen (BIÖG information service)
Bundesinstitut für Öffentliche Gesundheit (BIÖG), Germany · Website · psychoeducation · German
The German federal information site on eating disorders, with explainer videos, warning signs, guidance for relatives, and a database of counselling services across Germany. It also runs a phone information line, charged at a Cologne local rate.
The official German entry point, and the counselling database helps you find local help.
For: People in Germany worried about eating, and their families · Free to read; not openly licensed.
Essstörungen (Gesundheitsportal Österreich)
Öffentliches Gesundheitsportal Österreichs, Austrian Federal Ministry of Health · Guide · psychoeducation · German
Austria's public health portal on eating disorders, with pages on anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and orthorexia, tips for relatives, and links to Austrian advice services and hotlines.
Official Austrian information, useful for finding help within the Austrian system.
For: People in Austria affected by eating disorders · Free to read; not openly licensed.
Eetstoornis
Thuisarts.nl (Dutch College of General Practitioners, NHG) · Guide · psychoeducation · Dutch
Plain-language Dutch pages on eating disorders, including a page to help you work out whether you have an eating problem and separate pages for parents. It explains what the GP can do and what treatment looks like.
The Dutch GPs' own patient information, very easy to read.
For: Dutch speakers worried about their eating, or a child's · Free to read; not openly licensed.
FFAB: Fédération Française Anorexie Boulimie
FFAB (French learned society for eating disorders) · Website · psychoeducation · French
The French federation of eating disorder specialists and family groups. It explains what eating disorders are, has a page for people worried about someone close to them, and keeps a national directory of specialist care. Its listening line, Anorexie Boulimie Info Écoute, costs a small per-minute charge.
The reference body for eating disorders in France, bringing together clinicians, researchers and families.
For: French speakers affected by eating disorders, and worried relatives · Free to read; not openly licensed.
Questions people ask
Do I have to be very thin to have an eating disorder?
No. Most people with eating disorders are not underweight. Bulimia, binge eating disorder and other eating disorders often happen at an ordinary weight, and people can be seriously ill at any size. What matters is how much food, weight and shape control your thoughts and life, and what you are doing to manage them.
Can I recover with self-help alone?
Some people with milder binge eating improve with structured CBT self-help. For most eating disorders, though, recovery is safer and more likely with professional treatment, including physical health checks. Workbooks like CCI's are most useful alongside that care, or while you wait for it.
How can I help someone I'm worried about?
Choose a calm, private moment and talk about what you have noticed and how you feel, rather than about food or weight. Expect denial or anger, and stay patient. Beat, the NHS and the German and Dutch sites above all have pages for families and friends.
Do you offer counselling for eating disorders?
No. Eating disorder treatment is outside what I offer, because it needs specialist teams who can also monitor physical health. If body image or food is one part of a wider struggle, such as low self-esteem, counselling may still help alongside specialist care. Your GP is the place to start.