NEDA: Fighting the Second Most Deadly Mental Health Condition in America

Here's a statistic that stopped me: eating disorders are the second most deadly mental health condition in America, behind only opioid use disorder. Almost 10% of Americans will suffer from one. And only half of those people will ever receive treatment.

The costs — to families, to communities, to the healthcare system — are estimated at $326 billion annually. But beyond the numbers, there are millions of individual people struggling with something that's deeply personal, widely misunderstood, and chronically under-treated.

The National Eating Disorders Association — NEDA — is at the center of changing that.

What NEDA Does

NEDA operates on multiple fronts simultaneously. They provide education so people can recognize the signs early. They offer screening tools so individuals can understand their own risk. They connect people to treatment so recovery can actually begin. And they fund research so the science keeps advancing.

Their online screening tool — free, confidential, available to anyone 13 and older — is often someone's first step toward getting help. In 2024 alone, more than 110,000 people used it, and 94% were identified as at risk and guided to next steps. In 2025, they launched a Spanish-language version because eating disorders don't discriminate by language or background.

More than 1.6 million people access NEDA's online resources every year. These aren't just informational pages — for many, they're a lifeline.

The Grace Holland Cozine Resource Center

NEDA launched the Grace Holland Cozine Resource Center as a dedicated space filled with practical guidance, educational tools, and recovery stories. It's named intentionally — to honor someone, to make the work personal, and to create a trusted resource for people at every stage of their journey.

What I appreciate about NEDA's approach is that they don't treat recovery as a straight line. The resources acknowledge that setbacks happen, that support networks matter, and that different people need different things at different times.

Community-Powered

NEDA's mission runs on its community. Volunteers organize Care Fairs — local events that bring people together to share resources and hear stories of hope. On college campuses, student-led Campus Warriors raise awareness and create spaces for honest conversation about body image, mental health, and recovery.

These aren't symbolic efforts. Many of the volunteers go on to become clinicians, researchers, and advocates. The community feeds the mission, and the mission feeds the community.

Investing in Science

Through their Feeding Hope Fund, NEDA has awarded over $2 million in research grants — including $225,000 in 2024 focused specifically on gaps in early intervention, clinician education, and eating disorder care. This matters because the medical profession itself has gaps. Too many providers aren't trained to recognize and diagnose eating disorders, which is part of why only half of those affected receive treatment.

NEDA is working to close that gap from both sides — educating the public and educating the providers.

Why I'm Sharing This

Eating disorders carry stigma. People don't talk about them the way they talk about other health conditions. That silence makes everything harder — harder to recognize, harder to treat, harder to fund. NEDA is one of the organizations doing the most to break that silence with compassion and evidence rather than sensationalism.

If you want to get involved, NEDA welcomes community educators, Care Fair volunteers, Campus Warriors, fundraisers, and anyone willing to amplify their message. You don't need personal experience with an eating disorder to make a difference.

Learn more at nationaleatingdisorders.org.