ABSTRACT
Obesity may be defined as excessive accumulation of body fat leading to weight greater than 20 percent above the ideal weight, as indicated in the standard height-weight tables (Bray, 1978). According to this definition, close to a quarter of the U.S. population would be considered obese. Obesity is more common in women than in men, and tends to be more prevalent among people of lower socioeconomic status. Most obese individuals seem to have great difficulty in restraining their eating behavior and in achieving satiety. In addition, some individuals report increased eating during dysphoric states or emotional upset (Halmi, 1994).
