ED Prevention in Schools: Inside the Parliamentary Roundtable with Dr. Hannah Lewis

In this week's episode of Full of Beans, we are joined by Dr. Hannah Lewis, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Queen Mary University of London. Hannah’s work sits at the vital intersection of eating disorder prevention and school-based body image interventions. We step inside the halls of Westminster to discuss a recent Eating Disorder & Education Roundtable convened by the APPG on Eating Disorders and the Dump the Scales campaign. Key Discussion PointsInside Parliament: What actually happens at an APPG roundtable? We break down the meeting between researchers, MPs, and stakeholders to push for better school resources.The Evidence is Ready: We have over 20 years of research supporting cognitive dissonance-based interventions (such as the Body Project), yet they are still not standard in the UK curriculum.What the Science Says: A look at why "media literacy" alone isn’t enough to prevent eating disorders and why we need more active, group-based challenges to appearance ideals.Prevention vs. Treatment: Clarifying that prevention isn't about asking teachers to "treat" disorders; it’s about addressing risk factors like body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, and appearance anxiety.The 2017 Training Gap: Why a major hurdle remains the lack of specific body image and eating disorder training for Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) during their qualification.The "Sick Enough" Threshold: Discussing how clinical barriers are moving into schools, often preventing young people from getting help until they reach a crisis point.Diversity & Intersectionality: Why "standard" interventions can fail marginalised groups. We discuss the Brown is Beautiful project and the need to adapt the Body Project for South Asian girls.Current School Programmes: Routine weighing in PE lessons, calorie counting as a maths exercise, the policing of "high sugary foods" in lunchboxes and weight loss adverts at school are policies we can change.Neurodiversity & ARFID: Acknowledging that not all eating disorders are driven by body image. We explore the link between Autism, ADHD, and sensory-based eating struggles.The Future: Moving toward an open letter to Parliament and ensuring the outcome of these discussions leads to tangible policy action.Connect with Us:Follow Full of Beans on InstagramCheck out our websiteListen on YouTubeFollow The Brown is Beautiful Project on Instagram (@thebrownisbeautifulproject)⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorder prevention, body dissatisfaction, and mental health policy. Please look after yourself as you listen.If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛