DEBBIE DANOWSKI
CENTRAL RECOVERY PRESS
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Central Recovery Press, Las Vegas, NV 89129
© 2013 by Debbie Danowski
All rights reserved. Published 2013.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Publisher: Central Recovery Press
3321 N. Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129
Central Recovery Press makes no representations or warranties in relation to the medical information in this book; this book is not an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.
Characters portrayed in this book are composites, and all names thereof are fictitious.
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ISBN: 978-1-937612-28-3 (e-book)
Publisher’s Note: Central Recovery Press books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date. To protect their privacy, the names of some of the people and institutions in this book have been changed.
Author’s Note: A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated by the author to H.O.R.S.E. of Connecticut, a nonprofit horse rescue organization located in Washington, CT. For more information about the organization, visit the website www.horseofct.org.
Cover design and interior layout by Heather Kern, Popshop Studio DesignAuthor photo by Patty Wahlers
Excerpts from The Plug in Drug by Marie Winn © 2002, Penguin Books. Used with permission. Excerpt from Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception 2nd Edition by Abraham J. Twerski. Used with permission.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to overweight children everywhere.
May you all find health and happiness in your lives.
To all those who help abused and neglected animals.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword: A Professional View
Amy VanBuren, PhD, Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology, Sacred Heart University
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One
Society, Food, and Emotional Eating
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
What Food Isn’t
Chapter Four
What Food Is
Chapter Five
Changing the Patterns
Chapter Six
Get Moving!
Chapter Seven
Extremes
Chapter Eight
Looking toward the Future
THE TOPIC OF CHILDREN AND EATING IS important and timely. We live in an age in which childhood obesity rates are soaring while portion sizes in restaurants and fast-food outlets continue to grow, in which more children lead sedentary lives while the media promotes images of “perfect” bodies and faces, in which we receive confusing and often conflicting information about which diet (low-carb, high-fat? high-carb, low-fat? And what about protein?) is “best.” It is hard for parents, let alone children, to even begin to make sense of the confusing and often contradictory messages we get in our society about food.
Eating behavior is the result of a complex interaction of genetics, sociological, and psychological factors. Research is just beginning to tease these apart. But what we do know—and what Dr. Danowski emphasizes in this book—is that eating behavior starts in the family, and that families play a powerful role in shaping children’s eating habits. She understands the emotional stressors that both kids and parents experience in this complex world that often lead to overeating. For many, eating is a way of coping with life, even to the point where they are not able to know the difference between eating for biological reasons or eating for emotional solace.
As a clinical psychologist, psychology professor, and parent, one of my research specialties is emotional intelligence, which has to do, in part, with how people manage their feelings. In particular, I specialize in how children learn to handle distressing thoughts and feelings. I have run workshops and lectured to both parents and professionals on the development of emotional intelligence in children, helping children manage emotions, and emotionally intelligent parenting. Through my work as a clinical psychologist, I have come to believe that one of the most important things parents can teach their children is how to manage their emotions effectively. Within the psychological community, research has proven that one of the reasons some children overeat or develop eating disorders is because that is the only way they know to handle their emotions. Dr. Danowski’s book provides readers with solid, concrete methods to address these emotional-eating issues.
As someone who has fought her own battle with food and who, through hard work, courage, and determination, has learned to change her relationship to food, Dr. Danowski is in