ABSTRACT
Research on the causes, treatment, and prevention of disorders such as depression and cancer is marked by controversies. The field of eating disorders and eating problems is no exception. This chapter considers three debates that are particularly relevant to our contentions about the fundamental importance of primary or universal prevention:
1. Shouldn’t prevention acknowledge that eating disorders are neuropsychiatric illnesses and, therefore, concentrate, not on sociocultural factors, but on identifying individuals at high risk so special programs can be tailored to their unique needs?
