Healthy Eating in Schools: Evidence-Based Interventions to Help Kids Thrive (Applying Psychology in the Schools Series)

School-based interventions that target obesity in children often have little positive effect and may inadvertently contribute to unhealthy behaviors in the attempt to lose weight.

This book provides a conceptual model for understanding both obesity and eating disordered behaviors. Specifically, it advocates for body acceptance and intuitive eating—a flexible, healthy eating behavior involving awareness of the body’s hunger and satiety cues.

Within this context, the chapters review evidence-based school interventions in nutrition, self-regulation, exercise, body acceptance, media literacy, and mindfulness. Guidance is also provided for identifying, referring, and supporting students with emerging eating disorders.

Catherine Cook-Cottone, PhD, is an associate professor at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She has published more than 45 research articles and book chapters and has made numerous national and international presentations. Her primary research trajectory is in the area of eating disorders. She is also a certified school psychologist, licensed psychologist, and certified yoga teacher with a private practice that serves patients with eating disorders.
 
Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD, is an award-winning registered dietitian, with a nutrition counseling practice, specializing in eating disorders and intuitive eating in Newport Beach, California. She has written seven books, including Intuitive Eating (coauthored with Elyse Resch).
 
Tracy Tylka, PhD, is an associate professor at The Ohio State University. She has published 29 empirical articles and book chapters on body image and eating behavior, often exploring how they intersect. She studies both positive and negative body image as well as adaptive and maladaptive eating. She has made numerous national and international presentations and she is an associate editor for Body Image: An International Journal of Research and a guest editor for three special issues on gendered body image that will appear in Sex Roles: A Journal of Research.