Given mixed findings regarding the unique trajectories of female and male adolescents’ body dissatisfaction over time, comprehensive longitudinal examinations are needed. This 10-year longitudinal, population-based study, with 1,902 participants from diverse ethnic/racial and socioeconomic backgrounds in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, examined changes in body dissatisfaction from adolescence to young adulthood. Results revealed that: (a) female and male participants’ body dissatisfaction increased between middle and high school,(b) body dissatisfaction increased further during the transition to young adulthood, and (c) this increase was associated with an increase in BMI over time, such that the upward trend in body dissatisfaction became non-significant when BMI was controlled. These results highlight a trend in which diverse female and male youth are increasingly dissatisfied with their bodies as their BMI increases from middle school to young adulthood, and emphasize the need for targeted prevention efforts to intervene in this trajectory and mitigate potential harm.

Objective To explore multiple family members’ perceptions of risk and protective factors for healthy eating and physical activity in the home. Design Ten multi-family focus groups were conducted with 26 families. Setting Community setting. Participants Primarily Black and White families. Family members (n = 103) were between the ages of 8–61 years. Analysis A grounded hermeneutic approach. Phenomenon of Interest Risk and protective factors for healthy eating and physical activity in the home environment. Results Ten major themes were identified by family members related to health behaviors in the home environment, including: (a) accessibility to healthy foods and activity, (b) time constraints, (c) stage of youth development, (d) individual investment in health behaviors, (e) family investment in health behaviors, (f) family meals and shared activities, (g) parent modeling, (h) making health behaviors fun, (i) making health behaviors part of the family lifestyle, and (j) community investment in family health behaviors. Conclusions and Implications This study identified the importance of the family system and the reciprocal influences within the home environment on health behaviors. In addition, individual and community-level suggestions were identified. Insights from the families provide leads for future research and ideas for the prevention of youth obesity.

Compulsive buying (CB) is defined as extreme preoccupation with buying/shopping and frequent buying that causes substantial negative psychological, social, occupational and financial consequences. There exists preliminary evidence that group cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective in the treatment of CB. The present pilot study made a first attempt to compare group CBT for CB with telephone-guided self-help (GSH). Fifty-six patients were allocated randomly to one of the three conditions: (1) group CBT (n = 22); (2) GSH (n = 20); and (3) a waiting list condition (n = 14). The results indicate that face-to-face group CBT is superior not only to the waiting list condition but also to GSH. Patients who received GSH tended to have more success in overcoming CB compared with the waiting list controls. Given the sample size, the results must be considered as preliminary and further research is needed to address the topic whether GSH also could be a helpful intervention in reducing CB.

Objective This study examined group differences in ratings of amounts of food at the threshold of what is considered “unusually large” to develop empirically derived definitions of binge eating criteria for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Method Groups included undergraduate students, community members, and participants from an eating disorder (ED) longitudinal study. Data were collected via self-report questionnaires. Results Ordinal logistic regression indicated that males reported a higher threshold for amounts of food compared to females. Overweight participants from the student and ED samples, but not from the community sample, reported higher thresholds. The presence of binge eating and fear of weight gain were also associated with higher thresholds. Discussion These findings provide evidence that gender, social context, BMI, and eating disorder status are important considerations in determining what is an unusually large amount of food. Future diagnostic guidelines should consider the importance of these factors when defining binge eating.

Obesity is a major public health concern in children. Obesity occurs frequently in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), complicating treatment and impairing functioning. Parent-focused interventions to facilitate weight loss have been successful in other pediatric samples but have not been studied with this population. The current investigation examined the feasibility and potential efficacy of parent-focused treatment to improve healthy eating and physical activity of parents and eating and weight in their sons with DMD. Three families participated in this case series. Resulting changes in body weight among boys with DMD were an outcome variable. Findings indicate inconsistent changes in boys' weight, decreases in parent weight, increases in healthy foods available in the home, and increases in children's perceived quality of life. Participant ratings of treatment suitability and satisfaction were generally favorable. These preliminary findings support the use of parent-focused psychoeducation for the treatment of obesity in children with DMD.