An intervention in Australia to improve the nutrition of 69 underweight, institutionalized persons (mean age 27) with multiple disabilities including severe intellectual disability involved an enriched diet for a year with increased energy density. Results included increased weight, improved vitamin and mineral levels, and fewer infections.…

Examines research indicating that children are affected by U.S. society's preoccupation with thinness, discusses self-esteem and healthy body image, and offers suggestions for incorporating strategies into existing comprehensive school health programs to deter disordered eating and inappropriate dieting habits among children. (SM)

This paper describes fraud and health risks to consumers from the unregulated weight control industry, reviews safe weight loss guidelines, notes the role of health educators, and argues for increased regulatory control measures. (SM)

This study found that the physical activity levels of 10 children with Prader-Willi syndrome were significantly reduced in comparison to children without the syndrome. Increasing activity levels in children with Prader-Willi syndrome is suggested as a way to raise total energy expenditure and control weight gain. (Author/JDD)

Investigates the interplay of puberty, gender, weight, and age in regard to body image and disordered eating behaviors and attitudes in a sample of early adolescents. Results reveal that after menarche, females had increased personal expectations and were dissatisfied with weight/shape changes. Young males at puberty desired to build up their…

Provides an overview of research about excessive preoccupation with body image, body weight, and dieting in children, adolescents, and young adults. Provides counselor information concerning the continuum from disordered eating to serious eating disorders. Suggests strategies for counselors to utilize when dealing with students experiencing these…

Examines the issue of overweightness and obesity among children. Addresses the following: (1) magnitude of obesity and overweightness; (2) growth of the problem in recent years; (3) diet and other key roles; and (4) the relation of obesity to income, education, and ethnicity. (SD)

Individuals (n=177) who had participated in an 18-month trial of behavioral interventions involving food provision and financial incentives were examined 12 months later. Food provision, but not financial incentives, led to better weight loss than standard behavioral treatment, but over 12 additional months of no-treatment follow-up, all treated…

Two studies of twin, sibling, and cousin pairs among children attempted to extend a model, called DF analysis, which separates hereditary and shared environmental influences. First study supported the validity of DF analysis applied to kinship height and weight data. The second study showed that spanking, reading, and quality of home environment…

Studied maintenance procedures in 201 overweight female participants who completed a very-low-calorie diet. Posed two questions: (1) Would stimulus narrowing during the reintroduction of solid food improve weight losses and the maintenance of those losses? and (2) Would reintroduction of foods dependent on progress in losing or maintaining weight…

Examines the effects and interactions of gender, pubertal status, and body weight on the self-concept of young adolescent Australian students. The mean self-concept score was significantly related to students' standard body weight, and there was an interaction between gender and puberty, with postpubertal males having the highest and…

Evaluates African American undergraduate females (N=95) for body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and on four dimensions of self-concept. Results indicate body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness at levels commensurate with Caucasian samples. A hierarchical multiple regression found a combination of physical self-concept, drive for…

Objective: To examine diet, physical activity, and body-weight changes associated with relocation from home to university. Methods: Diet, fitness/physical activity, body-weight parameters and self-efficacy were assessed among 54 freshman women upon college entry and 5 months later. Results: Although caloric intake significantly decreased, a…

In developed countries, obesity tends to be associated with worse labor market outcomes. One possible reason is that obesity leads to less human capital formation early in life. This paper investigates the association between obesity and the developmental functioning of children at younger ages (2-4 years) than ever previously examined. Data from…

Background: There is uncertainty about the extent to which mildly sub-optimal perinatal characteristics among individuals born near-term (greater than 33 weeks of gestation) are associated with various subsequent childhood problems, including antisocial behavior. There is even more uncertainty about whether the pathway to antisocial behavior…