ABSTRACT
Eating disorders have become an important public health concern (Herzog & Copeland, 1985). As a result, organizations such as the American College of Physicians (ACP) and several groups of investigators have called for public education and early intervention to prevent the development of eating disorders and to promote healthful weight regulation practices among children and adolescents (ACP, 1986; Shisslak, Crago, & Neal, 1987; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, & Rodin, 1986). However, at present, little if any research effort has been devoted to the promotion ofhealthful weight regulation practices among normalweight children and adolescents, and very few controlled studies have examined programs designed to prevent the onset of disordered eating behaviors. This chapter describes an ongoing program of research aimed at the development and controlled evaluation of a comprehensive schoolbased intervention designed to prevent the development of eating disorder symptoms in a sample of young adolescent girls.
