“As an Eating Disorder Professional, I know that many of my clients that are in treatment for Anorexia, Bulimia, Bulimarexia, Binge Eating Disorder or Obesity are overwhelmed by all the information in the news about our health. In hopes of relieving some of the stress this can inflict on both my patients and readers, I’ve highlighted some of the weekly health news that was of particular interest to all of us at The Norton Center for Eating Disorders and Obesity. From my eating disorder and obesity treatment center in Cincinnati, here is your weekly news update for the week of October 15 – October 22 2013!”

Binge Eating Disorder is Different from Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa – Food addiction is not yet recognised as a mental disorder but certain obese individuals clearly display addictive-like behaviour towards food. To achieve a formal diagnostic status, ‘food addiction’ requires a stronger evidence base to support the claim that certain ingredients have addictive properties identical to addictive drugs of abuse. This topic is up for debate in the session, ‘Binge eating obesity is a food addiction’. Learn More.

Animals are Having an Obesity Crisis Too – Americans aren’t the only ones getting fatter — our animals are also growing overweight, reports Pro Publica. And it isn’t just pets and lab animals piling on the pounds (though they are; the likelihood of chimps living with or near humans being obese increased tenfold between 1985 and 2005): one study found feral rats in Baltimore are also getting plumper. Learn More.

Therapy Helps Relieve Stomach Aches for Some Kids – Talk therapy may help some children with frequent and unexplained stomach pain, a new study suggests. More than half of kids and teenagers who met weekly with a therapist had their stomach aches lessen or go away within a year. A similar proportion improved after regular appointments with a pediatrician, researchers found. Learn More.

Non-Regular Bedtimes Tied to Kids’ Behavior Problems – Kids without a regular bedtime tend to have more behavior problems at home and at school, a new study suggests. Researchers found that when children started going to sleep at a more consistent time, their behavior improved as well. Learn More.

Puberty and Eating Disorders – The Perfect Storm – In a recent paper in Hormones and Behavior, Kelly Klump reviewed what we know about puberty, eating disorders, and disordered eating. Especially in females, the surge of sex hormones seems to activate underlying genetic risk factors and alter neurochemistry. Although researchers still aren’t sure exactly what is going on, they are collecting a vast body of evidence that puberty is a particularly high risk period for Eating Disorders. Learn More.

New USDA Rules Further Degrade Integrity of Organic Certification – USDA ruling sidesteps the law, makes it easier for Big Food to continue adding junk ingredients to organic foods. Learn More.

Bottled Water: Your New Hormone Disruptor –  German researchers have just published a study finding nearly 25,000 chemicals in bottled water. And some of those chemicals act like potent pharmaceuticals in your body. Learn More.

Were there any news articles that you saw this week that really grabbed your attention? Leave a comment with a link. If the article helped you, it will likely help some of my other readers!

©2013, Dr J Renae Norton. This information is intellectual property of Dr J Renae Norton. Reproduction and distribution for educational purposes is permissible. Please credit ‘© 2013, Dr J Renae Norton. http://edpro.wpengine.com’.