Billions of dollars are spent each year in efforts to prevent and treat diseases caused by unhealthy eating habits. Promoting awareness among young children regarding the importance of achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for preparing them to sustain healthy lives as adults. This article aims to highlight ways to help students…

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses affecting a significant proportion of women and a smaller number of men. Approximately half of those with an eating disorder (ED) will not meet the criteria for anorexia or bulimia nervosa, and will be diagnosed with an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Until recently, there were no…

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) provides grants to districts and community-based organizations (CBOs) to initiate, expand, and improve physical education for students in kindergarten through grade 12. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education issued new regulations for PEP that included the following: (1) requiring grantees to…

Obesogenic environments promote excessive caloric and fat intake. A total of 23 low-income, African American adolescents digitally photographed their lunchtime food environment at a school buffet during summer camp. Depicted food was coded for nutritional content on the platescape (own plate or others' plates) and the tablescape (open buffet).…

This brief discusses diet, exercise, body image, and weight and also provides information for practitioners on how to measure these factors among youth in their program. It summarizes (1) what it means to be overweight; (2) what are body image and eating disorders; (3) what to do if you suspect that someone in your program is suffering from an…

Obesity is a global problem; however, relatively little attention is directed toward preparing and inspiring students of medicine and allied medical sciences to address this serious matter. Students are not routinely exposed to the assessment methods for obesity, its overall prevalence, causative factors, short- and long-term consequences, and its…

Body image dissatisfaction and eating disturbances are prevalent among youths and are beginning at an increasingly younger age. The glorification of the ideal, thin body type surrounds youths, in direct contrast to the increasing rates of overweight and obesity among the same population. The messages that children and adolescents are receiving are…

In schools across the U.S., kids who are heavier than their classmates experience size bias from peers and adults, and school health programs can sometimes hurt more than they help. Experts from the size-acceptance community, whose views are often omitted from health debates, offer a fresh perspective: eat healthy foods, stay active, and do not…

In this book, group work and college counseling leaders offer step-by-step instruction in the effective use and processing of structured group activities on topics such as test anxiety; stress and anxiety management; ADHD; career development; substance abuse; eating disorders; and the unique concerns faced by GLBT students, first-generation…

This article discusses issues related to body image in adolescents, explaining what school practitioners can do to encourage lifelong healthy habits that enhance body image. Body image is the picture of physical self carried in the mind's eye. This impression can have little resemblance to how a teen actually looks. Body image culturalization is…

Individuals are bombarded every day with data on obesity and its health consequences, with information on weight loss treatments and their successes and failures, and with tips on how to reduce caloric intake and increase physical activity. Obesity has become a global epidemic, termed globesity (World Health Organization, 2003), and seen by many…

Studies show that childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Today, more than 23 million American children--or nearly one in every three--are overweight or obese. If childhood obesity is left unaddressed, a generation of individuals could face health, social, and economic challenges that promise to stress government…

The proportion of adolescents in the United States who are obese has nearly tripled over the last two decades. At the same time, schools, often citing financial pressures, have given students greater access to "junk" foods and soda pop, using proceeds from these sales to fund school programs. We examine whether schools under financial pressure are…

National surveys that have tracked weight and physical activity in the United States for more than 40 years have shown a continuing increase in the number of overweight children and adolescents. Overweight children and adolescents are showing an increase in diseases related to overweight: Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and…

On 16 January 2002, the United Kingdom House of Commons Select Committee published a report entitled "Tackling Obesity in England". Drawing on insights from the work of Bernstein, Bourdieu and Foucault, this article will suggest that the report provides an example "par excellence" of the way in which "the body" (our…