Obesity linked to emotional issues in new book

A book by academics at the University of Hertfordshire which makes direct links between obesity and underlying emotional issues in women will be published this week.

Therapeutic Groups for Obese Women: A Group Leader's Handbook, a comprehensive guide to the group treatment of obese women by Professor Julia Buckroyd and Sharon Rother at the University’s Obesity and Eating Disorder Research Unit will be published by Wiley on 6 April.

In the book, the academics describe eight years of research into the causes of obesity among groups of women who have taken part in their research.

“We suspected at the outset that eating behaviour is determined in part by emotional states,” said Professor Buckroyd. “Why else would individuals who are overweight and at risk of serious obesity-related diseases continue to eat chocolate bars? Through our research, we found that there are very powerful emotional mechanisms at work which make it very difficult for some individuals to eat less in the long term.”

The book provides a practical, comprehensive guide to the group treatment of obesity. It is divided into two parts. Part one provides a description of the context of research from which the programme has evolved. This section also provides a description of how to use the workbook and includes practical tips for professionals conducting sessions.

Part two presents, session by session, a 36-week therapeutic programme for obese women. Auxiliary materials such as food diaries and meal planning sheets are also included.

Further information can be accessed at Wiley.