We would like to see mental health professionals more involved in every aspect of the struggle against obesity, and here is why.

More mental health professions should be taking ownership of the obvious connection between problems that originate in the brain and the obesity epidemic.

Childhood Obesity News looks back at the last few years of progress in the area of weight loss surgery for children.

The underlying reasons for child obesity are not understood, and bariatric surgery is a very poor substitute for comprehension and prevention.

If the patient is meticulous about lifestyle it can work out fine, except for a greater mortality rate and some serious side effects like a chronic gas problem.

Things have been happening in the world of bariatric surgery. Let’s take a peek at some of the highlights from past Childhood Obesity News discussions first.

Laughter could serve as a displacement activity, with the same function as the several other behavioral alternatives, including fight, flee, freeze, and feed.

In his essay Basil Hugh Hall proposes that laughter is a displacement response, and an effective alleviator of stress.

If eating makes us feel safe, then in an effort to erase our bad feelings, we can eat until it turns into something that looks very much like an addiction.

All addictions have one purpose, to avoid pain. All displacement behaviors have one purpose, to avoid pain.

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.