Mothers with an eating disorder: 'food comes before anything'

There is little research that has presented the voices of mothers with an eating disorder (ED). The aim of this study was to clinicians present the experiences of mothers, drawn from the community, who have an ED and their perceptions regarding how their ED impacts on their children and parenting. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with nine mothers with various EDs. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, alongside member checks and inter-rater reliability, was employed to analyze data. Six themes were identified: (1) the impact of an ED on children; (2) modelling disturbed eating behaviours; (3) prioritizing food before children's needs, or as described by one participant, 'food comes before anything'; (4) children motivate recovery; (5) secrecy within families; and (6) treatment needs. Overall, mothers juggled to balance the competing demands of an ED and the needs of their children. The need for clinicians to acknowledge and support a mother's role when treating EDs is highlighted.