Child Obesity: A New Frontier of Behavior Therapy

Family Counseling and Childhood Obesity: A Review of Approaches

“…Amid attempts to prevent or reverse childhood obesity, there is concern about the far-reaching effects of treatment on children. Little is known about the effect of treatment on children's self-perceptions and feelings of worth, its durability, or about who benefits from what method (Lebow, 1984). Dodd (cited in International Food Information Council, 1998) also cautioned against transferring the extreme fear of fat to children by overemphasizing weight loss at the cost of overall good health.…”

“…Within this framework, two important elements influence children's weight loss and include parental familiarity with behaviorchange strategies and parental support for children's eating, exercise, and weight loss attempts (Senediak & Spence, 1985). Lebow (1984) endorsed the direct teaching of others to support children and the enlistment of helpers in counseling. Consequently, treatment effectiveness seems to hinge on family support.…”

Gedragsproblemen van kinderen met obesitas

“…Obese kinderen worden vaker gemeden, uitgelachen en gepest en hebben vaker problemen in contacten met anderen en dientengevolge minder vriendjes (Strauss, Smith, Frame & Forehand, 1985;Baum & Forehand, 1984;Lerner, 1973). Vanuit de klinische praktijk wordt voortdurend gewezen op de traumatische ervaringen van obese kinderen ten gevolge van de negatieve reacties uit de omgeving en op de gedrags-en emotionele problemen van deze kinderen op langere termijn (zie bijvoorbeeld Bruch, 1975;Golden, 1979;LeBow, 1984; Van Loon e.a., 1981).…”

Adolescent Anger Control: Cognitive–Behavioural TechniquesE. L. Feindler and R. B. Ecton (1986). £7.95 softcover, £13.95 hardcover.

“…The authors seem to assume that most psychologists would already have this background knowledge and many would not. A text such as LeBow (1984) would fill in many of the gaps.…”