From the category archives:

eating disorders

Talking to Your Kids about Weight

October 12, 2011 Read the full article →

Parents have a lot of tough topics to bring up with their kids. Sex, drugs, smoking, drinking, stranger danger, the internet, bullying and appropriate friends are fairly standard. But with a third of American kids being overweight or obese, a lot of parents’ lists get even longer and touchier. According to a recent survey by [...]

Men and Eating Disorders

September 2, 2011 Read the full article →

“I was aware of eating disorders due to media coverage, but eating disorders are usually presented as female problems so I never made the connection with myself. Looking back, I can see that I had behaviors associated with an eating disorder from my late teens into my twenties but I never considered I might have [...]

School Weight Issues Can Linger

August 28, 2011 Read the full article →

What we experience as children and teenagers in school can stay with us for the rest of our lives.  If we’re fortunate, those experiences are fun, exciting, and filled with personal growth but that’s not always the case.  For some, memory lane is filled with pot holes, rusty nails, and dead ends. As a psychologist [...]

Is Your Doctor Weight Biased?

July 20, 2011 Read the full article →

“My experiences at the doctor’s office have not been good.  No matter what symptoms I present, or even if I am there for a well check, my weight is always an issue.  I have had recurring headaches for four years now and I can’t count the number of times that I have been told that [...]

What Causes Binging?

June 11, 2011 Read the full article →

What do binge eating and World War II have in common? In the 1940s, the University of Minnesota wanted to find out the physical and psychological effects of starvation, in part to guide relief efforts for famine victims in Europe and Asia at the end of the war.  The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, as it is [...]

Do You Have Body Image Distortion?

May 3, 2011 Read the full article →

None of us can be truly objective about our appearance. We we can only perceive ourselves from within, while other people view us from outside. Even our mirror image is distorted — it’s not how others see us. But some people, often those with eating disorders, distort their body image to an abnormal extent. A [...]

Weight Bias Part II: From the Receiving End

February 15, 2011 Read the full article →

Many people believe that stigmatizing overweight people will motivate them to engage in healthy behaviors. But, as we discussed last time in Personal Best, much of the data about weight bias suggests that this type of prejudice actually makes people more likely to eat poorly, avoid exercise, and suffer from depression and poor self esteem [...]

Addressing the Holidays’ Weighty Concerns

December 21, 2010 Read the full article →

I received so many good questions from readers about weight and exercise during the holidays, I’m devoting another column to the subject. Next time we’ll tackle the thorny issue of New Year’s resolutions. Determine what’s behind urge to binge I have problems with binging and the holidays make it worse. What can I do about [...]

Why Do I Feel Suddenly Fatter for No Reason?: How the Mind Can Make You Feel Fatter

November 7, 2010 Read the full article →

Some people can feel fatter or thinner from one moment to the other for no apparent reason. Understanding how the mind can do this can save a lot of heartache. The brain is a powerful and complicated organ. It has the ability to make a person feel fatter from one day to another and even [...]

Night Secrets: Understanding Night-Eating Syndrome

October 13, 2010 Read the full article →

By LAVINIA RODRIGUEZ Special to the Times While millions of people will admit to feeling guilty about their eating behavior, some people feel so much shame, they try to hide their consumption under cover of darkness. Individuals with night-eating syndrome have difficulty staying asleep at night.  They get up several times during the night to [...]

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