This article describes the efforts made by various schools in the U.S. to fight off the obesity problems of students. The intensive media coverage of the country's childhood-obesity problem sparked by the release of alarming statistics, created a junk food backlash. The Montgomery County school system and the many districts nationwide has…

Given the unprecedented global incidence of overweight in children, the issues that potentially create and sustain a circumstance of epidemic childhood overweight, and the efforts that are underway to prevent and remediate childhood overweight need to be examined. The article explores potentially interrelated causes of obesity/overweight in…

Adolescent obesity is positively associated with soft drink consumption. We investigated the association of social-environmental and individual-level factors with soft drink consumption in a Dutch adolescent sample. Data were gathered in a longitudinal Dutch adolescent sample (n = 208, 62% girls). Soft drink consumption, social cognitions from the…

Mary Story, Karen Kaphingst, and Simone French argue that U.S. schools offer many opportunities for developing obesity-prevention strategies by providing more nutritious food, offering greater opportunities for physical activity, and providing obesity-related health services. Meals at school are available both through the U.S. Department of…

Mary Story, Karen Kaphingst, and Simone French argue that researchers and policymakers focused on childhood obesity have paid insufficient attention to child care. Although child care settings can be a major force in shaping children's dietary intake, physical activity, and energy balance--and thus in combating the childhood obesity…

Evaluated efficacy of parental problem-solving training in a behavioral weight-reduction program for obese children. Assigned children and their parents to problem-solving, behavioral, and instruction-only weight-loss groups. Children in the problem-solving group lost significantly more weight and maintained the weight loss better. Child weight…

A weight control program for a group of eighth-grade girls, which included learning disabled students, was developed to change eating, exercise, and behavior patterns. The course included dietary management, physical activity, and behavior modification techniques. Results show that the students participating in the program decreased their weight…

Body build stereotypes of average-weight and heavy females, ages 6, 15, and 19, were studied through adjective checklists and drawings of endomorphs, ectomorphs, and mesomorphs. Mesomorph drawings were favored and the endomorphs least liked. But heavy subjects rejected for themselves behavioral stereotypes previously applied to the endomorph…

American Indians are three times more likely than Whites to have type 2 diabetes. Research shows that lifestyle treatments improving diet and increasing exercise are more effective than medications at preventing and treating the disease. A program featuring talking circles and emotional and spiritual counseling by Native elders promotes a…

A study identified 145 adults with mild mental retardation and hyperinsulinemia, borderline high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hypertension, and abdominal obesity. Those who participated in more frequent bouts of physical activity or who consumed lower dietary fat intakes were one-third as likely to have hyperinsulinemia…

Behavioral and cognitive-behavioral group programs for weight control were effective among 32 college women in reducing weight and alleviating depressed mood, fear of negative evaluations, and social avoidance and distress. Addition of cognitive restructuring component failed to improve efficacy of behavioral weight control program even on…

Identified factors for matching individuals to treatments by surveying experts in the field of obesity about the indications and contraindications of 11 common approaches to weight loss. Experts provided 170 client characteristics as possible matching factors. Discusses potential variables for studies on matching individuals to treatments along…

Describes an elective high school weight-loss course. Students do fat-burning exercises in an atmosphere that does not stigmatize them because they are heavy or unathletic. They study nutrition, proper eating habits, and self-esteem. Most students continue to lose weight or sustain their weight after the course is completed. (SM)

Presents summary of a panel discussion at the Conference of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (1992) on the health risks of treating obesity. The panel focused on selectivity in accepting patients, obesity and mortality, genetic individuality, weight loss mode and outcome, weight loss and longevity, and weight maintenance.…

Considers eating attitudes and behaviors related to anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and obesity of white American, African-American, Native American, and some international women from the point of view of cultural influences such as sex role, the media, socioeconomic class, and acculturation to Western society. (Author/NB)