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

About this episode

This episode features Dr. Hannah Lewis discussing eating disorder prevention in schools and the recent parliamentary roundtable on the topic.

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 Points Inside 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…

People in this episode

Host: Hannah Hickinbotham

Guest: Dr. Hannah Lewis

Topics covered

• eating disorder prevention
• body image interventions
• school resources
• mental health training
• appearance ideals

Keywords

• eating disorders
• body image
• school interventions
• mental health
• cognitive dissonance
• media literacy
• prevention strategies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Queen Mary University of London, APPG on Eating Disorders, Dump the Scales campaign

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