WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and a bipartisan group of senators today introduced legislation to authorize the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (the Center), which provides training and technical assistance to health care workers, teachers, and parents on how to identify eating disorders and support patients in recovery.

The Center was created in 2018 after provisions from Senators Capito, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Tammy Baldwin’s (D-Wis.) Anna Westin Act were enacted as part of the 21st Century CURES Act.

“I am proud to join my colleagues to continue the work the Anna Westin Act began on eating disorders,” Senator Capito said. “This legislation will have a profound impact on the millions of Americans experiencing eating disorders and will help ensure they will not be denied access to the same mental health services as those facing other types of illness. Now more than ever, we need to ensure medical providers in our communities are able to identify and refer individuals to appropriate treatment, and the Center is an important tool in achieving this goal.”

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, pediatric emergency room admissions for eating disorders have doubled and adolescent eating disorder diagnoses have increased by 30% year over year. Eating disorders have the second highest mortality rates of any mental illness. Only one in three people affected by eating disorders will receive treatment, with persons of color half as likely to be diagnosed or to receive treatment for eating disorders.

The Anna Westin Legacy Act authorizes Center funding at $5 million for each of FY 2023 - FY 2027 to:

  • Adapt screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) models for a pediatric population.

  • Expand adaptive in-person and online training modules on eating disorders to reach more frontline professionals.

  • Consult with the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) on prevention, identification, and treatment of eating disorders for veterans and military service members.

  • Facilitate integration of SBIRT for eating disorders within electronic health record systems.


This legislation is named in honor of Anna Westin of Chaska, Minnesota, who was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 16. Despite the urgency of her condition, Anna had to wait until her insurance company ‘certified’ her treatment, ultimately delaying and limiting the treatment she received. After struggling with the disease for five years, Anna died at the age of 21.

The Anna Westin Legacy Act is supported by the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action, American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy, American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work, American Association on Health & Disability, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Group Psychotherapy Association, American Psychological Association, Lakeshore Foundation, Anxiety & Depression Association of America, Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare, Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), Clinical Social Work Association, Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance, Global Alliance for Behavioral Health & Social Justice, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Association of Social Workers, National League for Nursing, REDC Consortium, SMART Recover, National Council for Mental Wellbeing, and Mental Health America.

Senators Capito, Klobuchar, and Baldwin have worked to reduce content online that may promote eating disorders. In October, they sent a letter to Facebook, which owns Instagram, expressing concern that content on Instagram encourages eating disorders among young users, specifically teenagers and girls.

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