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Obesity has historically been linked to emotional factors by clinicians and the lay public alike. Early psychiatric studies reinforced the popular perception that psychopathology is common among the overweight and plays an important role in the development of obesity. This notion has been challenged by recent investigations which suggest that psychological disturbances are more likely to be the consequences than the causes of obesity. Emotional difficulties faced by the obese may be largely attributable to an entrenched cultural contempt for the obese and a pervasive preoccupation with thinness.
Wadden et al. (1987) studied this question.