* The Institute of Psychiatry Eating Disorders Unit: excellent information for carers and professionals and news of research. www.iop.kcl.ac.uk.

* Mind (National Association for Mental Health) www.mind.org.uk.

Online paper - Understanding Eating Distress

* Mental Health Foundation Online booklets: All About Anorexia Nervosa and All About Bulimia Nervosa. www.mentalhealth.org.uk.

* Informative BBC site on eating disorders: www.bbc.co.ukhealthfeatureseating _disorders.shtml.

* British Medical Association Information about two papers: Eating Disorders, Body Image and the Media (click on science) and Understanding Eating Disorders, by Dr Bob Palmer (Family Doctor Series). Basic information in clear, simple terms: www.bma.org.uk.

* The Royal College of Psychiatrists: no-nonsense factsheets and leaflets on anorexia, bulimia and worries about weight. www.rcpsych.ac.uk.

* British Nutrition Foundation: information on diet and dietary management. www.nutrition.org.uk advice

* Eating Disorders Association, a UK-wide charity providing information, help and support. Includes website bookshop, training for professionals and a support service for young people. EDA, First Floor, Wensum House, 103 Prince of Wales Road, Norwich NR1 1DW; www.edauk.com. Adult helpline: 01603 621414 (8.30am to 8.30pm). Youthline: 01603 765 050 (4pm-6.30pm Monday to Friday, callers 18 and under). Recorded message - eight minutes about anorexia and bulimia at 50p per minute: 0906 302 0012. EDA’s training officer: 0870 770 3256. The association has also recently launched It’s Not About Food - It’s About Feelings!, an excellent educational resource pack for teachers and those working with young people (pound;15.99, inc postage). Carers Guide offers support and reassurance for those looking after somebody with an eating disorder and explores difficult emotional issues (pound;6, inc postage).

books for adults

* Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia: how to help, by Marilyn Duker and Roger Slade (Open University Press, pound;19.99). Published in 1988 but still going strong; intended for carers of all kinds.

* Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence, edited by Bryan Lask and Rachel Bryant-Waugh (2nd edition, Psychology Press, pound;16.99). The contributors are all connected to the eating disorder programme at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Covers medical, ethical, legal and educational issues.

* Professor Arthur Crisp’s books on anorexia, particularly Anorexia Nervosa: the wish to change, are available from The Psychology Press. Tel: 01603 624310.

* Anorexia and Bulimia: a parents’ guide to recognising eating disorders and taking control, by Dee Dawson (Vermilion, pound;8.99).

* Confronting Eating Disorders, part of The Issues series: edited by Craig Donnellan (Independence Educational Publishers, pound;6.95). Photocopiable study guide, pound;1.50.

* On Eating: change your eating, change your life, by Susie Orbach (Penguin, pound;4.99).

Non-fiction for teenagers

* Wise Guides - Eating: improve your body image, by Anita Naik (Hodder Children’s Books, pound;3.99). By a former teen mag agony aunt. With quizzes, activities and tips.

* The Diary of the Other Health Freak, by Aidan Macfarlane and Ann McPherson (Oxford University Press, new edition in April, pound;4.99). The diary of Susie, the sister of Peter Payne, in The Diary of a Teenage Health Freak (also OUP, pound;4.99, revised and updated). Covers dieting and anorexia among other issues facing teenagers, primarily from a girl’s point of view. Light-hearted with plenty of advice.

* Diet of Despair by Anna Paterson (Lucky Duck, pound;12 with video). By a young woman who recovered from anorexia after 14 years.

* Perfect: young women talk about their body image, edited by Helen Hines (Women’s Press, pound;5.99).

* If Only, by Geri Halliwell (Bantam, pound;6.99). Covers the early struggle with bulimia of former Spice Girl Halliwell (pictured).

action Most of these novels focus on anorexia and bulimia. Almost all feature the textbook anorectic: a middle-class, high-achieving young woman (none has male characters with eating disorders, although some have more boy appeal).

* Massive, by Julia Bell (pound;9.99), to be published in August by Young Picador, is exceptional in its heroine with working-class roots and its strong sense of contemporary teenage girls’ culture in Birmingham. A superb portrayal of three generations of women for whom food is a problem.

* Second Star to the Right, by Deborah Hautzig (Walker Books, pound;4.99) is a classic fictional study of anorexia which also pinpoints the mother-daughter relationship. Still fresh and compelling after 21 years.

* The Best Little Girl in the World, by Steven Levenkron (Puffin, pound;5.99), a US psychiatrist who spares no details of the physical decline of ballet student Francesca and the doctors’ interventions.

* Fat Chance, by Leslea Newman (Women’s Press Livewire, pound;4.99). The diary of Judi, a contemporary American high school girl who develops bulimia.

* Face to Face, by Sandra Glover (Andersen Press, pound;9.99). Adelle’s “anorexic voice” insists she is fat while the world sees she is starving.

* The following novels also feature characters with eating disorders: Turning to Stone, by John Brindley (Orion Children’s Books, pound;4.50); The Memory Prisoner, by Thomas Bloor (Hodder Children’s Books, pound;4.99); Breaking Point, by Anne Bailey (Faber, pound;4.99).

Boy appeal

* Transformer, by Philip Gross (Scholastic Press, pound;4.99) is a tale of a rock band’s path to the big break, in which lead singer Alia stops eating.

poetry

* The Wasting Game, by Philip Gross (Bloodaxe, pound;6.95), shortlisted for Whitbread Poetry Award. A father witnesses his daughter’s near-fatal struggle with anorexia.

Younger readers (eight-plus)

* Blubber, by Judy Blume (Macmillan, pound;4.99).

* Accident!: Lucky Break?, by Nikki Fisher (Bloomsbury, pound;2.99). Part of a series set in a hospital.

Additional resources by Reach, the National Advice Centre for Children with Reading Difficulties. Its information helpline is: 0845 6040414; www.reach-reading. demon.co.ukl A full list of resources on eating disorders is available at www.tes.co.uk.