Encyclopedia of Obesity And Eating Disorders, 3rd Edition (Facts on File Library of Health and Living)

385 Pages·2006·1.39 MB·English

by  Dana K. Cassell, David H. Gleaves

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
OBESITY AND
EATING DISORDERS
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
OBESITY AND
EATING DISORDERS
Third Edition
Dana K. Cassell
David H. Gleaves, Ph.D.
The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders, Third Edition
Copyright © 2006, 2000, 1994 by Dana Cassell
Foreword copyright © 2006, 2000 David H. Gleaves, Ph.D.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cassell, Dana K.
Encyclopedia of obesity and eating disorders / Dana Cassell, David H. Gleaves.—3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8160-6197-1 (alk. paper)
1. Eating disorders—Encyclopedias. 2. Obesity—Encyclopedias—English. 3. Eating disorders—Encyclope-
dias—English. I. Gleaves, David H. II. Title.
RC552.E18C37 2006
616.85′26′003—dc22 2005051375
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
CONTENTS
Foreword by David H. Gleaves, Ph.D. vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
A–Z Entries 1
Appendixes 301
Bibliography 341
Index 347
FOREWORD
ever before has so much attention been paid to probably misnomers, because the typical anorexic
Nwhat might be called the disorders of eating may not experience a loss of appetite (and, in fact,
and/or weight regulation. Not coincidentally, soci- may be preoccupied with food), and for the suf-
ety is currently preoccupied with thinness, dieting, ferer of bulimia, the most frustrating part of the
beauty and health, and a great industry has arisen disorder may be that he or she binge eats even
to take advantage of the fear of fatness that has when not hungry.
spread through developed nations and is beginning In terms of invariable clinical observations with
to spread throughout others. No-calorie or low- these disorders, both anorexia and bulimia ner-
calorie foods and drinks, sugarless sweeteners and vosa are characterized by gross disturbances in eat-
pills sold as appetite suppressants pour onto the ing behavior and highly characteristic extreme
market. Writers make fortunes propagating new concerns about shape and weight. In both disor-
diets, and health clubs and the makers of exercise ders, self-esteem is influenced to a great degree by
machines sell people the presumed benefits of body weight and shape. These similarities have led
”working out.” some researchers to suggest that the disorders are
The Eating Disorders category of the current simply variations on a common theme; however,
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders according to the DSM, the disorders are classified
(DSM), published by the American Psychiatric as distinct categories, and there are two subtypes
Association, includes the two best-known eating of each. With anorexia nervosa, there are the
disorders, anorexia and bulimia nervosa, as well as restricting and binge-eating/purging subtypes.
a residual category called “eating disorder not oth- With bulimia nervosa, there are purging and non-
erwise specified.” A provisional diagnostic category purging subtypes.
called “binge eating disorder” was added to the Binge-eating disorder is characterized by out-of-
most recent version of the DSM. Obesity, although control binge eating in the absence of any compen-
technically not an eating disorder, is a much more satory behaviors. Obesity is a state rather than an
common problem, affecting at least one-third of eating disorder per se, although a sizable propor-
the American population; this prevalence has tion of obese individuals may engage in binge eat-
increased from about one-quarter of the popula- ing, and may even meet the diagnostic criteria for
tion since the mid-1980s. binge-eating disorder. Conversely, most people
The literal definition of anorexia nervosa is loss with binge-eating disorder are clinically obese.
of appetite (anorexia) of nervous, or emotional, In addition to the core eating and body image-
origin (nervosa). Bulimia can be literally defined related psychopathology of the eating disorders and
as “ox hunger,” with the term nervosa again obesity, a variety of additional problems, including
implying that it (bulimia nervosa) has an emo- depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior,
tional origin. However, both of these terms are post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use,
vii
viii The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders
have been described in the literature. Interpersonal eating disorders field had its roots in the social sci-
and family problems as well as personality disorders ences. As a consequence of this division, persons
are also common. working in the fields had very few shared interests
Despite earliest attempts to find strictly biological and had different conceptualizations of the etiol-
or intrapsychic explanations, the recently devel- ogy, assessment and treatment of these arguably
oped understanding of the role of cultural factors in related conditions. This gap in the literature has
the development and maintenance of eating disor- fortunately begun to close since the 1990s. Testa-
ders leads one to wonder whether the proper sub- ments to this closure include the publication of
ject for treatment is the individual or society as a Brownell and Fairburn’s Eating Disorders and Obesity:
whole. However, it is still the case that only a A Comprehensive Handbook (1995), the journal Eat-
minority of people actually develop full-blown eat- ing and Weight Disorders: Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia,
ing disorders, despite the fact that almost all are and Obesity and The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating
exposed to and are aware of the aforementioned Disorders (first published in 1994). This, the third
sociocultural thinness standards. There is thus a edition of the last-named book, is meant to further
need to understand who internalizes these stan- bridge the gap between the literature on obesity
dards and who is at risk (possibly because of bio- and eating disorders. It is also meant to bring an
logical factors) for developing additional problems understanding to subjects on which expert
as a consequence. The most popular etiological researchers both have and have not been able to
explanation of eating disorders and obesity, known agree. Under these circumstances it seems that the
as the biopsychosocial model, thus attempts to inte- encyclopedia approach is especially useful, for
grate these biological, psychological and social fac- whereas an encyclopedia cannot give exhaustive
tors. According to this model, there is no simplistic information about any subject, it can bring crucial
single factor explanation for any of these problems. questions about that subject into focus, give the
Particularly when such multiple problems exist, reader a reasonably accurate “bottom line” and list
such as those described above, it is often difficult to further reading for those who want to know more.
disentangle cause and effect. For example, are Since the publication of the second edition of
depression and anxiety causes or effects of an eat- the encyclopedia, there have been numerous
ing problem, or are there some other mechanisms developments in the obesity and eating disorders
(biological, psychological or social) that somehow field. These have been in the areas of epidemiology,
explain the comorbidity? Answering this question etiology, treatment, long-term outcome and pre-
is one of the ongoing challenges in the field. vention; some developments have been positive,
Just as the etiology of eating and weight disor- others negative. Use of antiobesity medications
ders may be complex and multiply determined, so exploded, only to be followed in many cases by
may the treatment need to be complex and multi- drugs being banned due to harmful physical effects.
faceted. In other words, most successful treatments The low-carbohydrate diet was resurrected, along
integrate features that address biological (including with an associated marketing explosion. Recent
nutritional), psychological and social factors. The research has questioned the assumed continuity
degree to which treatment of each factor is neces- models of eating disorders (that eating disorders
sary may depend both on the disorder and the indi- occur on a continuum and are simply extreme vari-
vidual. However, in recent years there has also ants of normal dieting, eating and weight concerns)
been a move toward a transdiagnostic psychologi- and suggested that the subtypes of bulimia and
cal approach to treatment; that is, a more unified anorexia nervosa should be organized differently.
therapy based on the similarities among people There has also been new research on the biological
with eating problems. bases of anorexia and bulimia and increased atten-
For years scientific literature on eating disorders tion to eating and body image problems (such
and obesity was regrettably separated. The obesity as muscle dysmorphia) among males and among
field had been dominated by perspectives from persons of diverse cultural groups. Recently a
medicine and health risk concerns, whereas the much better understanding of the effectiveness of
Foreword ix
eating disorder prevention programs has been tenance of eating disorders. Increased use of the
gained. As a testament of the amount of profes- Internet and computers may also lead to further
sional knowledge and interest that now exists decreases in activity level and an increased preva-
regarding these disorders, there are now approxi- lence of obesity. Technology is evolving so fast that
mately a dozen journals devoted exclusively to the it is difficult to even keep up with developments
study, prevention and/or treatment of eating and to predict its future effect on the field.
and/or weight disorders, and several others focused This third edition is therefore timely and valu-
on related problems. able. It aims to be helpful to students, clinicians,
As technology (particularly the Internet) has researchers, parents, the eating disorder sufferer in
continued to develop, it has substantially affected search of knowledge and referral information and
the obesity and eating disorders field. As with other the prospective consumer of a vast variety of goods
developments, some have been positive and others and services that purport to change eating patterns
negative. On the positive side, Internet-based treat- or transform bodies (in many cases without chang-
ment programs have been developed and imple- ing eating patterns). The authors hope that The
mented for both obesity and eating disorders, Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders, Third Edi-
numerous Internet support groups have been cre- tion will provide insights and accurate resources to
ated and the availability of information about the those in need. And last but not least, readers are
topics for the consumer and professional has grown urged to consult the references included through-
amazingly. On the negative side, some of the infor- out the book and the numerous appendixes.
mation on the Internet is of questionable accuracy,
—David H. Gleaves, Ph.D.
and some of the “support groups” (such as pro-
anorexia sites) actually purposefully support main- University of Canterbury