Integrating Eating Disorder and Obesity Prevention Programs for Adolescents

Eating disorders and obesity together affect a large number of adolescents. To date, prevention efforts aimed at curbing these eating disturbances have remained fairly distinct. However, an integrated approach to prevention that addresses the shared risk factors for this spectrum of eating disturbances is attractive for a number of reasons. Advantages to an integrated approach to prevention include increased cost-effectiveness, reducing the stigma associated with targeted interventions, and delivering a universal intervention that can potentially help all adolescents reach and maintain a healthy weight. This article will review arguments for an integrated approach to preventing the spectrum of eating-related disturbances, discuss extant prevention programs that appear to show promise in achieving these goals, and suggest ways in which future efforts to prevent a broad spectrum of eating problems might be undertaken. Research and policy implications to an integrated approach will also be discussed.