There are behaviors that animals and people might engage in to relieve the discomfort of a threat, whether physical or intangible. This includes comfort eating.

The habits of non-human creatures may seem off-topic, but looking into animal behavior could reveal important secrets about how to prevent childhood obesity.

In parenting, the importance of marginal gains picking your battles cannot be over-emphasized.

On reading Anne M. Fletcher’s book, “Sober for Good: New Solutions for Drinking Problems,” you might notice the parallels with overeating and obesity.

A report from the Centers for Disease Control indicates that weight loss aspiration is trending with the young, but many are doing it wrong.

Many health professionals believe that multietiological approaches to preventing childhood obesity are shunned when they should be embraced.

According to its critics, the science of fat measurement just might wind up on the shelf with the science of phrenology.

A teachable moment spontaneously arises from within the child, manifesting as a mood that is open, receptive, approachable, malleable, curious, ready.

Why are so many people against Halloween candy? Because childhood obesity is an epidemic with a huge financial cost and a toll in human misery.

The magical and 100% free commodity known as attitude adjustment can help parents make healthy food choices to prevent childhood obesity.

When it comes to parenting, the decision to abandon, or at least modify, some ingrained mindsets proven to be counterproductive could be both free and freeing.

What if we told you that life with kids could be incredibly improved at no cost? The key is a change of attitude, life’s best bargain.

Authoritarian parenting can have unhappy results. Yet it cannot be said that all control is bad. Some is necessary. Here is a very literal example.

Research shows that when parents exert excessive control over what, when and how much their children eat, the kids may be at higher risk of becoming overweight.

There is widespread conviction that when overweight kids underperform academically, anti-fat attitudes held by teachers definitely play a role.

Obese children and youth are often bullied by teachers who use their power to unreasonably and unfairly manipulate, disparage, humiliate, and punish students.

Good familial relationships help kids avoid obesity. The strength and nature of these bonds also influence the child’s likelihood of becoming a bully.

Well over half of people with eating disorders assign at least partial blame to bullying, of which cyberbullying makes up a considerable portion.

A Canadian study of children of 11 to 16 years verified that overweight and obese teens were likely to be bullied verbally, physically, and relationally.

In short videos, formerW8Loss2Go study participant Carly Hurt talks about her experiences as part of the study and about the importance of openness and honesty.

A very large percentage of overweight and obese children have experienced bullying, especially at school.

What happens when kids are bullied, teased, and stigmatized for being overweight?

The effects of different parenting styles play out differently, depending on family income, and preschool children are most noticeably affected by poverty.

The challenge is to recognize the multifactorial nature of the child obesity epidemic, and yet identify and rank the individual factors, like parenting style.

A postscript to the discussion of the University of Michigan study of how mothers and children talk about food and eating.

A study showed child and mother food talk was associated with child obesogenic eating behavior, when obesity prevention interventions may be most beneficial.

Studies have found that a child who helps to prepare a meal is likely to eat more of it, and talking about food as a family is also helpful.

The success of some programs demonstrates that relatively simple, no-cost changes in home routines can help reduce childhood obesity.

An in-home intervention program initiated by Massachusetts General Hospital slightly reduced the risk of childhood obesity for the participating families.

Some programs successfully involve parents in school-based interventions to prevent childhood obesity while others do not. What works and what doesn’t?