Eating Disorders and Obesity: A Comprehensive Handbook [Hardcover]

Kelly D. Brownell PhD (Editor), Christopher G. Fairburn DM FMedSci FRCPsych (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898628504 | ISBN-13: 978-0898628500 | Publication Date: April 14, 1995

This unique handbook presents and integrates virtually all that is currently known about eating disorders and obesity in one authoritative, accessible, and eminently practical volume. From leading international authorities, 101 concise chapters clearly synthesize the latest information on all pertinent topics, from biological issues and social variables associated with risk, to research findings and clinical methods for measurement and treatment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brownell and Fairburn have assembled an international cast of experts to provide the definitive reference source on weight and eating disorders. This well-organized and carefully edited book is unmatched in providing the most current, most comprehensive, and most authoritative coverage of the field. The editors are to be commended for integrating existing knowledge on both weight and eating disorders in a single source. The book is an indispensable resource for busy practitioners, and a blessing for anyone teaching a course in the general area." --G. Terence Wilson, PhD, Oscar K. Buros Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University

"This volume is a treasure trove of information about eating disorders and obesity. It describes a very large part of what we know about these disorders in an accessible and user-friendly manner." --Albert J. Stunkard, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

"This volume presents a remarkable array of up-to-date information combining the latest scientific knowledge with humanistic concern....[It] contains the most current information on all aspects of eating disorders and obesity so that professionals with clinical or research questions in this area will have the critical information at hand in one volume. Students will find this invaluable. This volume is welcome and has been long overdue....It sets a very high standard, one which we hope will be maintained in future editions of this important volume." --From the foreword by Paul E. Garfinkel, MD, FRCP(C), Director and Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry and Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

"On occasion, a book is published that is so unique in its contribution and so completely fulfills its lofty goals that it is bound to become a classic the moment the first copy rolls off the press. This volume edited by Brownell and Fairburn is one of those classics....Both editors have demonstrated throughout their careers a broad-based perspective that is clearly evident in this collaborative effort....The volume stands out for...its integration of eating disorders and obesity across disciplines, its comprehensiveness, and its synoptic style....One cannot overlook the reasonable price of the book...it is a true bargain that is rare among today's highly inflated book prices. Eating Disorders and Obesity succeeds as a valuable and unique scholarly contribution. I recommend it highly for the reference library of anyone interested in obesity, eating disorders, or behavioral medicine." --J. Scott Mizes for Contemporary Psychology

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Kelly D. Brownell, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Yale University, where he also serves as Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. An internationally known expert on eating disorders, obesity, and body weight regulation, he has served as president of several national organizations and has received numerous awards and honors for his work. His recent publications include [ital]Behavioral Medicine and Women[ital] (coedited with Elaine A. Blechman).

Christopher G. Fairburn, DM, FRCPsych., is Wellcome Trust Senior Lecturer and Honorary Clinical Reader in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford. A well-known international authority on eating disorders with research programs in Britain and the United States, he is coeditor (with G. Terence Wilson) of Binge Eating and author of Overcoming Binge Eating.

Longer version for Brownell:
Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., is an internationally known expert on eating disorders, obesity, and body weight regulation. He is Professor of Psychology at Yale University, where he also serves as Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. In 1994, he became Master of Silliman College at Yale. He has served as President of several national organizations, including the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, and the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the James McKeen Cattell Award from the New York Academy of Sciences and the award for Outstanding Contribution to Health Psychology from the American Psychological Association. He has published 12 books and more than 150 scientific articles. One book received the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Book from the American Library Association, and his paper on "Understanding and Preventing Relapse" published in the American Psychologist has been listed as one of the ten most frequently cited papers in psychology.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 583 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press (April 14, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898628504
• ISBN-13: 978-0898628500
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,131,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent presentation of complex topics, July 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Eating Disorders and Obesity, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Handbook (Hardcover)

As an internist, I am a little closer to the obesity side of things but I found the entire book informative and very easy to comprehend. The chapters are purposefully short to facilitate the episodic reading that is often the only reading possible in a busy practice. I particularly like Dr. Brownell's public health and environmental approach to the problem of obesity. This textbook is a great way for the uninitiated to "catch up" on the current concepts of obesity and eating disorders.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Over-sized, Minor Value, June 11, 2011

By 

Douglas Setter (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eating Disorders and Obesity, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Handbook (Paperback)

This book was like super-sized junk food for the brain...without the taste. While I did pick up some good historical references about eating disorders, I really did not need to read chapters and chapters of research to find out that "less calories and more exercise" is a proven solution. Wow. We needed a research scientist to tell us that!

I get more cutting edge information from the local gym scene and talking to people who actually lost the weight than this research. I am actually embarrassed that our scientists could not do a better job of looking for metabolic or behaviorial solutions.

Heck, I will give the reader one right now. Eat protein before any other food. One gram of protein requires a gram of water. Whereas, carbohydrates require 4 grams of water. The carbs will cause a more rapid weight gain. The protein will fill you up quicker as well.

The most useful psychological information from this text was how children could be taught to eat less by having the parents put down their eating utensils between bites. The children then followed their parents' examples. Not exactly cutting edge psychology here.

It is like the editors and researchers are terrified of straying off of the old calorie-counting mentality. There was no comparisons of ethnic or performance diets. Food was all a matter of calories. Nothing to do with vitamin value or how hidden hungers, from B vitamin deficiencies, can cause over-eating.

Fair enough, this information was unbiased from advertisers. But, I found it very time-consuming and as disappointing as a dry doughnut. --Doug Setter BSc. author of Stomach Flattening and Reduce Your Alcohol Craving