Dr Stephen Anderson, a Consultant Psychiatrist at the NHS Forth Valley eating disorder service, will run an off-road epic trail with a total climb of 1,608 metres on 30 September in aid of the UK’s eating disorder charity Beat.

Speaking about his challenge and why he wants to fundraise for Beat, Dr Anderson said: “Eating disorders are complex mental and physical disorders and can be very difficult to recover from. There is often a perception that these disorders are all about weight and that the person has somehow chosen to be like this, and that is not the case at all.

“It is a genuine privilege being able to work with people in their recovery from these horrible illnesses but they generally need more support than we can provide within our eating disorder service.

“Patients and their loved ones need more support and Beat provides a variety of options that people can access.

“I am keen to help increase awareness of the support offered by Beat and to raise money to help Beat continue to deliver this support locally.”

An estimated 1.25 million people in the UK suffer from an eating disorder, serious mental illnesses that include binge eating disorder, anorexia, bulimia and other types.

Dr Nabila Muzaffar, NHS Forth Valley’s Clinical Director for Mental Health Services, said: “Stephen has been training hard for this marathon which will not only raise money for Beat, but will also helping to raise the profile of eating disorders.

“Stephen is a popular doctor and passionate about developing our local eating disorder service. We are confident he will do well and wish him the very best of luck on the day.”

Beat’s National Officer for Scotland Sara Preston said, “Stephen is doing such an important task in raising awareness and money to help ensure that eating disorder sufferers and their families get the support they need.

“Stephen’s effort will help ensure anyone affected by these dreadful illnesses can receive timely and effective treatment.

“Last year Beat directly supported over 17,000 people and this year we are hoping to help more than 40,000. The dedication of Stephen and other fundraisers and doctors like him is essential in achieving that goal.”