Can listening to a Podcast improve Eating Disorders?

Can Listening to a Podcast Improve Eating Disorders?

Image Source: Organic Detailed Podcast Listener on the Bus by sketchify via Canva.com

Intervention Can’t Wait

According to eating disorder statistics obtained from The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), nearly 31 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.  Among these estimates, roughly 8.60% are female and 4.07% are male. A person with an eating disorder is 11 times more likely to attempt suicide.  Every 52 minutes, 1 person dies as a direct consequence of an eating disorder.  Although these statistics were from estimates six years ago, the impact of eating disorders are relevant today and likely to have increased as of 2026.

Treatment and support is necessary to produce better outcomes for people suffering from ED.  However, even when an individual seeks treatment there are still barriers to getting the necessary help.  Healthcare costs, wait times, and clinician burnout all contribute to delayed treatment.

So what can families do in the meantime? Could listening to a podcast be a good approach? 

Researchers from the University of Sheffield, UK wanted to know if listening to a podcast could help with patients with bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa who were waiting for their appointments.  Their findings were what they hoped for.  Podcasts are an option for positive change for patients waiting for an appointment.  Although the podcast choice was beneficial for both eating disorders, it was especially for patients with bulimia nervosa.

Researchers advocate that using digital technology, such as podcasts, is low intensity, disseminable, affordable, and can provide timely access to advice for early change. 

The Duality of Digital Technology 

Digital technology has the capacity to improve or worsen eating disorders.  Think of the last time you saw an influencer using filters to alter their waist size or exaggerate their fitness gains.  Social media and fitness apps can have intended or unintended  consequences on the minds of individuals who feel that their body and their image is not good enough.

However,  digital technology can be leveraged  for cognitive behavioral therapy and improve the well being of people who need access to help.  Researchers of this study assert precisely this, stating that using podcasts are low maintenance, disseminable affordable, and can provide timely access to advice for early change for people suffering from eating disorders.  

The Podcast Study at a Glance

Over the course of three years, an outpatient eating disorders service from the UK recruited 203 patients for the podcast intervention classified as a pre-treatment option for people on a waitlist.  It was a three-week educational intervention called Keeping Me Safe (KMS).  It consisted of six podcasts, an accompanying workbook, and a follow-up review appointment.  Questionnaires were taken at assessment, at the end of the intervention and start of treatment with the health professional.

Although BMI was used as a measure for improvement, the limitations of the study is that they used self report questionnaires and didn’t account for individuals with severe forms of the eating disorder.  It is also interesting to note that the podcast was not a standalone in the pre-treatment option.  The researchers acknowledge that further study is required to understand the long term impact of the intervention. 

Designing for a Better Future

The sky is virtually the limit for leveraging digital technology for treating eating disorders.  However, what makes one digital intervention better than the next and are podcasts the way to go? 

The answer is straightforward, but requires some considerations and refinements.  Design needs collaboration, not just among clinical and digital professionals, but with people who have experience with eating disorders.  Podcasts are not for everyone, but having more digital options couldn’t hurt individuals trying to discover what works best for them while they wait for an appointment.  In addition, podcasts can be a good platform for featuring individuals with personal experience with eating disorders.  They can provide peer support that doesn’t feel invasive for people who are currently in the treatment phase and not ready to speak in groups.  

Other challenges associated with using technology is figuring out how to implement such technologies in a way that feels organic.  However low maintenance a digital technology is, it still needs to fit seamlessly into the clinical process, clinicians need to be trained in teaching people how to use such interventions, and families also need to be supported in understanding how to use digital pre-treatment options.

Furthermore, in order to truly evaluate the effectiveness of a digital tool, researchers and designers are going to have to think of an assessment design that goes beyond self reporting questionnaires to evaluate effectiveness.  Health professionals need to design and evaluate improvement of patients that use digital technology and they need to be able to verify that the person participating in the digital technology is the person about to undergo treatment.  Still, in spite of these collective challenges, the future looks bright for podcasting and digital technologies in the treatment of eating disorders.

References

Primary Source Article

Tatham, M., Wells, H., Beard, J., & Waller, G. (2026). Enhancing assessment for eating disorders: the impact of a podcast-based pre-treatment psychoeducation intervention. Eating Disorders, 34(1), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2024.2435691 

Secondary Source Articles

Graham, A. K., Kosmas, J. A., & Massion, T. A. (2023). Designing Digital Interventions for Eating Disorders. Current Psychiatry Reports, 25(4), 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-023-01415-x 

Pehlivan, M. J., Miskovic-Wheatley, J., Le, A., Maloney, D., Research Consortium, N. E. D., Touyz, S., & Maguire, S. (2022). Models of care for eating disorders: findings from a rapid review. Journal of Eating Disorders, 10(1), Article 166. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-022-00671-1 

About the Author

Christina Andrea Alvear is a freelance writer in San Antonio, Texas.  She is a regular writer and Co-Editor-in Chief for Envirobites.  Her goal is to make primary research fun and accessible to everyone while connecting with other science enthusiasts.  She also enjoys supporting nonprofit organizations. She earned a MS in Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has explored a wide range of careers, including research, education, nonprofit mental health, substance abuse, and healthcare programs.. During her time off, she likes to lounge around at a coffee shop on a weekend or enjoy a board game with friends.  Feel free to connect via LinkedIn.