Eating disorders are a serious mental illness affecting around 1.6 million people across the UK and are on the increase among children and teenagers. 30% of adolescents are affected and over the last ten years the number of children hospitalised in UK NHS hospitals for eating disorders has risen by one third. Eating disorders are also associated with the highest mortality amongst psychiatric disorders.

Disordered eating behaviours – over and under eating, binge eating, dieting and unhealthy weight control strategies – often start in adolescence. Previous research suggests that disordered eating behaviour may develop over time, but there has been no research around causes before birth and in earliest childhood, up to early adolescence. This research will look at the effect a mother’s experience of eating disorders has on the birth of a child and their early development.