Wednesday, 17 April 1991, advertised on the Paris Metro as ‘la première journée de la minceur’ was, by an appropriate coincidence, also the morning Professor Philippe Jeammet welcomed over 800 participants from 34 countries to this bilingual conference at which 298 papers and posters were presented. In 1859 Louis Marcé, described by Dr Joseph Silverman as the “forgotten man of anorexia nervosa”, wrote the first description of the syndrome. Today anorexia nervosa is common, expensive and life threatening, responsible for an estimated 200 British deaths every year.