A Winnipeg woman says people battling eating disorders are waiting too long to get the help they need in Manitoba.

Elaine Stevenson is a long-time advocate who lost her 24-year-old daughter Alyssa to anorexia12 years ago.

She says eating disorders are the deadliest form of mental illness and is concerned after learning wait times for treatment programs at the Women's Health Clinic are now more than a year long.

"So you're at the point, as a family or caregiver, to convince them to get help. [Then] they take that huge step, and to find out it could be a year-and-a-half waiting list for them is absolutely devastating and debilitating," Stevenson said.

"And throw that in the mix there … that in our particular province there's a real shortage of specialists that know how to treat eating disorders."