title: The role of emotional and socio-cognitive patterns in obesity: eating attitudes in obese adolescents before and after a dietary-behavioural therapy.
abstract: The aim was to examine attitudes towards eating in a group of obese and nonobese female adolescents (N = 200), in particular whether obese subjects have characteristic attitudinal patterns associated with obesity. Analysis concluded that our sample, both overweight and normal subjects, share the negative stereotypic attitudes towards obese persons. However, there was a considerable difference in emotional evaluation of eating behaviour. If normal subjects attribute a strong negative emotional connotation, obese subjects not only did not recognise the "abnormality" of overeating, but preferred it. This can be explained by the presence of an association of strength and power with overeating: at the moment of eating, obese subjects feel themselves "strong" and even "superior," thereby compensating for their rather weak and fragile personalities. The emotional evaluation of eating behavior did not change after a 10-week dietary/behavioural treatment.
authors.affiliation: Catholic University of Milan, Italy. auxo.psylab@gse.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riva
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000339:Affect; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004035:Diet Therapy; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*