According to the latest thinking, eating healthily and taking more exercise are not enough by themselves to combat the nation’s rising obesity levels. Instead we need a better understanding of the issues underpinning compulsive eating so that psychological help can be successfully targeted.

There are currently no Department of Health guidelines on offering psychological services to those suffering from eating disorders. Instead compulsive eaters are given information on food intake, and when that doesn’t work there are pills to suppress appetite and, as a last resort, surgery. None of these options addresses the reasons why people are overweight in the first place and hence are consistently unsuccessful when it comes to maintaining weight loss. Therapy has a key role in identifying the reasons why people overeat rather than simply focusing on what they eat. It can also provide compulsive eaters with the psychological tools and strategies needed to lose weight and keep it off.

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Tags: Compulsive eating, department of health, maintaing weight loss, psychological help, therapy

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