Eating Disorders and Social Work: How Culture, Trauma, and Inequity Shape Recovery

Eating Disorders through a Social Work Lens

Every March, we celebrate Social Work Month, which is led by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). This month offers an opportunity to reflect on the mission of the Social Work profession: to enhance human well-being while promoting diversity, inclusion, cultural competence, and social justice. The theme for Social Work Month 2026 is that Social Workers: Uplift. Defend. Transform. When thinking about eating disorder treatment and recovery, this month is especially important because eating disorders are not just about food. They are shaped by culture, trauma, access to resources, family systems, and the social environment.

The Role of Society in Eating Disorders

Societal pressures often play a harmful role in the development of eating disorders. The rise of social media has made it easy to buy into the message that there is an “ideal” body type, and even easier to forget that this “ideal” is unattainable. We are constantly flooded with messages surrounding expectations regarding our body weight and size. Consequently, body dissatisfaction has become persistently fueled through the media and social comparison.

Diet Culture & Weight Stigma

From a young age, we have been taught the message that “thinner is better.” Beauty, worth, and success have been equated with “thinness”, and this message is reinforced through cultural ideals. Diet culture adds to this, often showing up in subtle ways. This may look like body idolization, filtered images, attaching moral value to foods, encouraging “earning” food, or simply in everyday conversations. The constant focus on “thinness” takes the focus off actual health and well-being. Diet culture sends the message that “no matter what size your body is, it’s not good enough”, leading to stigmatization around weight.

Access to Care

The messages from media and social platforms affect people of all genders, ages, races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, body shapes, and weights. However, disparities in access to treatment exist. BIPOC individuals are half as likely to be diagnosed and treated for an eating disorder. Barriers such as finances, geographic location, sociocultural factors, and treatment quality make it less accessible for underrepresented groups to receive treatment. Additionally, members of the LGBTQ+ community are at greater risk of developing an eating disorder, yet less likely to receive care. The systemic causes of disparities in care for minority groups make it especially important to view eating disorders through a Social Work lens.

Looking Ahead

Eating disorder recovery is deeply individual, but it is also deeply social. Social Work Month honors the fact that eating disorders often develop within a broader social and cultural context. Together, we can work toward a society that makes recovery more possible in the first place.

Acknowledging the roles that diet culture, media pressure, and inequity in accessing care play is a beginning step. Social Workers can help to combat the gap between individualized care and social factors through this year’s theme: Uplift. Defend. Transform.