Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths Debate
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Josh Dean
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Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
Josh Dean Excerpts(2 days ago)
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Josh Dean (Hertford and Stortford) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) for securing today’s debate. I will focus my remarks on the more than 360,000 children and young people living with an eating disorder in England. What work is the Department undertaking to ensure that the access and waiting time standard for children and young people with eating disorders is being met? When does NHS England intend to publish its refreshed guidance on young people’s services?
I would also like to raise the case of my constituents Amy and Kester. Their six-year-old son has been diagnosed with ARFID, or avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, a less known and understood eating disorder. They found that few healthcare professionals are aware of ARFID and, once they finally received the diagnosis, they discovered that there was no treatment pathway available in our area. While there is a specialist team at Addenbrooke’s hospital, referrals are only available for children aged eight and over, meaning that their son will not be able to access services for two years. More damage is still being done, so could the Minister set out what work is being done to open up further pathways and help to better understand ARFID?
On artificial intelligence, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate recently published a report in which a fictional 13-year-old girl was given instructions and material related to disordered eating by an AI chatbot. What work is taking place across Government to ensure that we are tackling the potential harm being done, and that young people are not being given misinformation by AI that will drive more eating disorders?