WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
Health psychologists also work on weight management, considering obesity as a major risk factor for disease. Unlike conventional approaches to weight control, the health psychologist’s approach considers the role emotions such as depression, anxiety and anger play in overeating. Health psychologists address in full the behavioral complexities of binge eating.
We all know the overpowering effect feelings can have on our eating behavior. Feelings of loneliness, boredom, of being unloved, or feeling like a failure drive you to overeat. Foods contain pain-killing drugs that medicate our emotions.
But how many weight-loss programs address the mind’s role in overeating? How many examine your thought process, your struggle to motivate yourself and your “eating related behaviors” when trying to fully understand your eating problem? The health psychologist will teach you techniques to handle your emotions and gain control over your eating behavior
Americans are the fattest people in the world. Since 1980, the total number of obese Americans has doubled, with a doubling of overweight children and a tripling of overweight adolescents.
When the World Trade Center attacks killed three thousand Americans, our country turned literally upside down. But a runaway epidemic killing 400,000 Americans per year gets minimal attention. If you aren’t alarmed yet, try this one: One out of three children born in 2000 will develop Diabetes, and among African Americans and Latinos, it will be one out of two.
Still not alarmed? Try this one. Every child who becomes obese before the age of 15 will lose an average of between 17 and 27 years of his or her life. If you’re obese at 13, there’s an 80% chance you’ll be obese for the rest of your life. So the game is almost over at age 13. But our country invests next to nothing in preventive medicine to save our children.