The American Medical Association voted on June 18th, 2013, to declare obesity a disease.  It’s arbitrary to call it a disease or not a disease.  What really matters is that over fifty percent of the citizens of the United States of America are severely overweight.  There are lots of ways that many people use fat to avoid what is going on inside them.

Since my blog has to do with the psychology of being obese, that’s what we’ll focus on today.

Very few people wake-up each day and take the stance, “oh, am I lucky and fortunate that I can have a lifestyle of getting fatter and less concerned about my health every day.”  Clearly such a stance is not what overweight people consciously aspire to be doing.  But in their unconscious processes the fat and the unhealthy way of living becomes a constant.

Fat is a way to insulate one from feeling one’s strong and complex emotions.  People use fat and sugar and alcohol to avoid the core feelings which include anger, sadness, happiness, joy, sexuality, remorse and guilt, and love.  When the child gets hurt by the parent demeaning and/or physically abusing the child, the child eats yummy unhealthy fats and sugars to avoid their retaliatory rage toward the parent, or the bully (sometimes both at the same time).

Eating behavior among mammals in general is a complex interactional process.  With human beings, it gets even crazier and more chaotic.  Eating behavior among human families plays a powerful role in shaping children’s eating habits.  Let’s face it, children and adults often want to scarf down sugar and unhealthy fat to distract them from what they want to avoid.

Recently on my voiceamerica.com internet radio station I interviewed a delightful woman who has written a wonderful book, the title of which is WHY CAN’T MY CHILD STOP EATING?: A Guide to Helping your Child Overcome Emotional Overeating.  The author’s name is Debbie Danowski, Ph.D.  While Dr. Danowski’s focus is on helping children to overcome emotional overeating, in the process of helping children, the parents of these children also have to come to the plate; a plate that has healthy food portions.  In this way, the entire family, children and parents, and perhaps other people they care about, can have a healthy life style that does not weigh them down.

Weight issues are a huge problem.  It’s become one of the most dangerous ways to live.  There are solutions.  Check out Dr. Danowski’s book and see what you CAN do to turn your life around to being a healthy and vibrant human being.

This is Jonathan Brower, Ph.D., saying good-bye for now.  Please call me if you like: 818-707-4557.