Uni of Worcester student designs guidance to help men with eating disorders feel 'engaged' with support
George Mycock has himself experienced eating disorders and body image concerns for over a decade and developed the guidance to help charities and health services
Last updated 20th Sep 2025
A University of Worcester PhD student is aiming to break down any barriers preventing men with eating disorders accessing support by creating 'bespoke guidance'.
29-year-old George Mycock has developed it specifically to help charities and health services when they're designing marketing materials, such as leaflets and posters, to ensure they do not unconsciously exclude or alienate men, and even seek their input.
Mr Mycock has produced and co-designed the guidance after consulting with men with lived experience of eating disorders.
"My research identified that one of the things men tend to say is that they feel like they're unwelcome in eating disorder or body image healthcare services, so they feel like it's not for them," he said.
"We then worked with the group of men to see what they said they feel works and what's worked for them in terms of them not feeling like that.
"It then came down to kind of three fundamental principles, one of them was this idea of using authentic voices, so making sure these places speak to men with these experiences first before you make them and using their stories and narratives to shape it."
Another principle Mr Mycock says was the idea of promoting 'self-realisation' - so avoiding 'labelling' men with something and instead offering examples of those who have come to the service and what they've experienced and how it's helped them.
The final one was aimed at going beyond just encouraging men to reach out for support and showing how the support can help them.
Following its publication, the guidance has been taken up by REDCAN (Regional Eating Disorders Charities Network and Alliance), an alliance of regional eating disorders charities across the UK, who are distributing it to their member charities.
After experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns for over a decade, Mr Mycock says his experience helped shape his idea to carry out the research as part of his PhD.
"I didn't realise I could have been diagnosed with an eating disorder until I became a researcher in this area and looked at all the symptoms and realised I met all of them at one point," he said.
"When I went for further advice at times though I got told I looked fine, so not to worry about it and this seems to be a lot of men's experiences.
"That's why we've done this research and guidance, we want to try and change those repeated stories of men where they feel unwelcomed, where they feel like they're not supported into these services."
Further support
People can access further information and support regarding eating disorders on the NHS website.