BACKGROUND-Duplications and deletions in the human genome can cause disease or predispose persons to disease. Advances in technologies to detect these changes allow for the routine identification of submicroscopic imbalances in large numbers of patients.

The phenomenology of childhood and adolescent loss of control (LOC) eating is unknown. The authors interviewed 445 youths to assess aspects of aberrant eating. LOC was associated with eating NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript forbidden food before the episode; eating when not hungry; eating alone; and experiencing secrecy, negative emotions, and a sense of "numbing" while eating (ps < .01). Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed a subgroup, most of whom reported LOC eating. Cluster members reported having a trigger initiate episodes, eating while watching television, and having decreased awareness regarding the amount consumed. The authors conclude that aspects of LOC eating during youth are similar to aspects of adult episodes, but a youth-specific presentation may exist. Findings may provide an intervening point to prevent excessive weight gain and eating disorders.Keywords binge eating; loss of control eating; children; adolescentsThe prevalence of pediatric overweight has nearly tripled in recent years (Ogden et al., 2006). Overweight during youth puts individuals at high risk for becoming obese adults (Field, Cook, & Gillman, 2005;Freedman, Khan, Dietz, Srinivasan, & Berenson, 2001;Guo, Wu, Chumlea, & Roche, 2002;Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, & Dietz, 1997;Williams, 2001). Given the serious untoward medical (Adams et al., 2006;Freedman et al., 2001) and psychosocial (Puhl & Brownell, 2002;Strauss & Pollack, 2003) consequences of excess weight, overweight during childhood and adolescence is a major public health problem. Prevention and early intervention are critical to reduce the current epidemically high prevalence of pediatric overweight (Styne, 2003). Targeting behavioral factors that promote excessive weight gain may be a potential point of intervention. However, clarification of relevant behavioral factors is required before prevention efforts may be designed and implemented.Binge eating is defined as eating a large amount of food given the context, during which a sense of lack of control over eating is experienced (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). Recurrent binge eating is the hallmark behavior of binge eating disorder BED; (APA, 2000). Compared to obese adults without an eating disorder, adults with BED suffer from poorer physical health (J. G. Johnson, Spitzer, & Williams, 2001) and higher levels of eating disorder psychopathology (e.g., Masheb & Grilo, 2000;Wilfley et al., 2000) and are more likely to be diagnosed with a comorbid psychiatric disorder (e.g., Marcus, 1995;Wilfley et al., 2000;Yanovski, Nelson, Dubbert, & Spitzer, 1993). BED and subthreshold binge eating are often associated with excess body weight and obesity (de Zwaan, 2001;Yanovski et al., 1993). Not only is BED a disorder of clinical significance (Wilfley, Wilson, & Agras. 2003), but some (Sherwood, Jeffery, & Wing, 1999;Yanovski, Gormally, Leser, Gwirtsman, & Yanovski, 1994), although not all (Wadden, Foster, & Letizia, 1992), data suggest that the presence of the ...

Differences in eating styles between overweight and normal-weight youngsters were investigated with a child version of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Subjects were children (n=1458; M: 10.1; SD=1.3) and adolescents (n=1016; M: 14.9; SD=1.5). Overweight adolescent girls scored high on emotional eating while overweight adolescent boys displayed more external eating. In overweight children, already 10.5 per cent displayed emotional eating and 38.4 per cent reported external eating. All overweight youngsters reported restrained attitudes. Eating styles were positively associated with indicators of eating pathology. The results suggest the use of appropriate norms that take into account the child's age, gender and overweight status.

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Dysfunctional emotion regulation is an important predictor of psychopathology. Although many clinical programs focus on emotion regulation skills, the successful application of these programs in children and adolescents requires knowledge on the normative use of emotion regulation strategies over age. To this end, the current cross-sectional study examined changes in emotion regulation throughout childhood and adolescence. The use of seven adaptive and five maladaptive emotion regulation strategies was measured with the FEEL-KJ in a representative sample (N = 1397) of Dutch children and adolescents between 8 and 18 years old. Overall, the results indicated reduced use of adaptive strategies and increased use of maladaptive strategies in participants between 12 and 15 years old compared with younger or older participants. The findings of the current study indicate that adolescence is characterized by a maladaptive shift in emotion regulation. Given that the continued use of dysfunctional emotion regulation plays an important role in the development and maintenance of psychopathology, these results highlight the importance of prevention and treatment programs focused on emotion regulation to shield vulnerable adolescents against mental illness.

The current study investigated loss of control (LC) over eating and the role of anxiety, depression and emotional eating in a sample of both treatment seeking (N = 115) and non-treatment seeking (N = 73) overweight youngsters (aged 8-18) using a semi-structured clinical interview and self-report questionnaires. It was found that treatment seekers reported twice as much LC (40%) compared to non-treatment seekers (21%). Cross-sectional prediction models indicated that increased anxiety was associated with emotional eating and LC. Emotional eating tended to mediate the relationship between anxiety and LC. Increased depression was associated with emotional eating but not with LC. Especially overweight treatment seekers turn out to be at risk for LC. Because LC may develop as a result of inadequate coping with negative emotions like anxiety, obesity treatment should focus on teaching more effective coping strategies. Longitudinal research is recommended to further elaborate affect regulation and LC.

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