MLHD Excellence Awards recognises psychologist Angela Farrell for work with eating disorder patients in Murrumbidgee

The Murrumbidgee Local Health District's clinical leader for eating disorders Angela Farrell has won an in-house award for excellence.

Ms Farrell, who has been her current role for three years, said the Murrumbidgee had seen an increase in presentations to medical services for eating disorders in the past 12 months.

At any one time there are an estimated 9,529 people with clinically significant eating disorders in the Murrumbidgee and 289,200 across the state, according to the most up-to-date official data.

"That's a lot of people and we know that not many of those are actually seeking help and seeking treatment," Ms Farrell said.

Ms Farrell said the idea that only young women developed eating disorders was "a huge misconception".

"What we've seen is recent years is people as young as eight ... are presenting to services," she said.

"[And] lots of men and young males. So one in four people with an eating disorder will actually be male."

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The most recent official NSW data are from a 2012 report commissioned by the Butterfly Foundation and Ms Farrell said it would be interesting to see whether prevalence has increased or stayed constant with more people now seeking help.

"Certainly the number of people now presenting for treatment has increased significantly," she said.

Ms Farrell, who spent 14 years as a psychologist with Wagga's community health service, said NSW's new approach to eating disorder treatment includes a clinical leader installed in every local health district who works with existing medical teams.

"It is a serious mental illness, but there is a medical component," she said.

"Depending on what stage they're at, some people will be quite unwell medically and will need a medical treatment in hospital where they need to be re-fed because they're at risk of becoming quite unwell and actually dying.

"There's also the part of it where they're an outpatient and working with a multidisciplinary team."

Ms Farrell is one of eight staff members to be recognised with an award in this year's MLHD Excellence Awards.

"I was quite surprised actually, because there's a lot of excellent work being done by a lot of clinicians in our district," Ms Farrell said of winning.

"It certainly makes you feel valued: that what you're doing and the way you're going about it is something that the health service recognises and appreciates."

The full list of MLHD Excellence Award winners can be found on their website.

For more information on eating disorders you can visit insideoutinstitute.org.au or butterfly.org.au.

If you are concerned by body image or eating disorder issues you can call the Butterfly National Helpline from 8am-midnight, 7 days a week on 1800 334 673 for support.

Lifeline: 13 11 14