Written question WQ87583

Improving eating disorder services is a key priority.

The new curriculum includes a Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and this enhances the new curriculum’s focus on the health and wellbeing of learners, including learning about issues such as body image.

Through our Healthy Weight, Health Wales Strategy we are working with schools on issues such as healthy weight and body image. The Minister for Education and Welsh Language and I jointly chair the Whole System Approach Oversight Board to drive forward this work in schools.

The mental health ring-fence is more than £760m – we are not able to disaggregate spend on specific mental health issues. We have provided significant and sustained investment specifically to support eating disorders and since 2017 health boards have received more than £6m of additional funding to support improvements in services and waiting times.

Eating disorder services were one of the areas most impacted by the pandemic. In June 2021, phase one of the eating disorder activity census was undertaken; followed by a second national census of inpatients with eating disorders and disordered eating on behalf of NHS Wales. The results confirmed a growth in demand for eating disorder care. This informed our spending decisions for 2022-23 – an additional £2.5m of recurrent funding was invested to support eating disorder services.

We continually promote mental health support, which is available to people of all ages, including for those with eating disorders, through our Help us Help You campaign and via 111. There will be a specific focus on our eating disorder services during eating disorder awareness week.