I have started training for the 10 mile, Great South Run, around Portsmouth and Southsea. 

The training schedule is particularly tough, but I know each mile I run means an increase in the funds raised for Beat. 

As the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image I have seen first-hand the work that Beat have done to help people with the various (and largely unknown) eating disorders which make up this mental illness. 

Beat is the UK’s leading charity supporting anyone with an eating disorder, their friends, family and professionals working with or worried about an individual in their care.

Beat provides information and support through:

• Helplines which people can call, text or email
• Online support including information, message boards and online support groups
• HelpFinder, a paid online directory of support services

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses and include anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. 725,000 men and women of all backgrounds in the UK have a diagnosed eating disorder. Studies show that up to 1 in 4 of the 725,000 could be male. Beat’s commissioned costs of eating disorder report in February 2015 showed that eating disorders cost the UK’s economy £15.8billion every year.

Eating disorders claim more lives than any other mental illness – one in five of the most seriously affected will die prematurely from the physical consequences or suicide.