The field of ethology is the biological study of animal behaviors, both instinctive and learned, in nature.

Why do humans get to define what is an inappropriate stimulus, and what is abnormal behavior?

This series is about helping kids find things to do with their hands (and in some cases, their mouths) that will help them avoid snacking.

Let’s aim for a family culture that includes the very important standard of not dragging consumption into every mundane activity.

One big reason why kids eat is because they are unhappy. Whether the parent feels like that is justified, or not, is irrelevant.

Addiction can foster some really twisted thinking, and people who are hooked on eating are no exception. Children are not exempt, either.

Guilt is an arrow; shame is a thick obscuring fog. Guilt is objective and can be disproven; shame is subjective and can only be dispelled.

Guilt as an emotional “first responder” can be beneficial. It can serve as a “note to self” that behavior needs to be corrected.

The discussion of the effects of C-section births on a child’s development and how breastfeeding affects the baby’s microbiome continues.

Following the two previous posts, we go deeper into two sub-topics: birth by surgery and the suspected reason why that seems to contribute to childhood obesity.

We continue our discussion about the actual expense involved in breastfeeding, which is believed to help prevent obesity.

Baby formula’s current, heavily politicized supply chain problem presents an opportunity to make several points when planning to breastfeed.

Some countries have a fortunate genetic heritage that leaves their feel-good genes unfettered, making them happy countries. Let’s look at the inner workings.

Do certain genes exert influence over a person’s likelihood of developing an addiction to food and/or eating? It does seem likely.

We live in an environment that creates food addicts on purpose.

It appears to Dr. Pretlow, as well as to leaders in addiction science, that addiction and obesity both stem from one source.

How much does it matter whether or not the client is invested in the addiction paradigm? For one, a recovering addict has to acknowledge the loss of control.

The longer society continues arguing policy and regulatory points, the longer we can put off needing to really do something.

The Food Addiction Institute (FAI) says that 87 million Americans are obese, and maybe half of those fulfill the FAI’s definition of addicted.

It’s not the food that is addictive, it’s the eating. This offers hope that the displacement mechanism may be useful in the treatment of eating addiction.

The big difference between overeating and the overuse of heroin, or even caffeine, is that a person can live without heroin and caffeine, but not without food.

Leaders in addiction science concur that addiction and obesity both reflect the consequences of ingestive behavior gone awry.

“Kids don’t get COVID-19.” “They don’t get it very bad.” “They don’t spread it around.” Simultaneously, things constantly happen to prove otherwise.

Some assessments ignore the mounting evidence that long COVID is a very real threat to children, and the links between COVID and obesity are ominous too.

A look at the tug-of-war between COVID-19 restriction loosening and restriction tightening as it has continued to play out over the past months.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans was criticized for its too-cozy relationship with the food and pharma industries, and for conflicts of interest.

We listen to experts on what type of fuel to put into our car. If only we would pay a similar amount of attention to what we put into our bodies.

Research also shows that the average American achieves a score of only 58 (out of a possible 100) on the Healthy Eating Index quiz.

More the substance addiction vs. behavioral addiction debate, how it relates to childhood obesity, and how much the Big Food industry might be responsible.

Here we are in an obesogenic environment with a lot of obesogenic habits, and more to eat in a day than our great-grandpas had in a week.