Yesterday, Time.com shared a story about the link between obesity and childhood trauma. In the late 1980's, Dr. Vincent Felitti, founder of Kaiser Permanente's Department of Preventive Medicine and director of its obesity-treatment program,began a systematic study of 286 obese people, and discovered that 50% had been sexually abused as children. That rate is more than 50% higher than the rate normally reported by women, and more than triple the average rate in men.

Recent studies such as one done in 2007, which studied more than 11,000 California women, and one in 2009 which studies more than 15,000 adolescents, confirmed that sexual abuse and other traumatic childhood experiences were absolutely associate with obesity and eating disorders.

But why exactly does something traumatic trigger an unhealthy attitude towards food? Parents Ask expert  Dr. Ann Corwin says it's because these experience makes for feelings of vulnerability and helplessness.  So to overcome this 'hurt' a child will continue the rest of their life 'trying to get control'.

Dr. Ann Corwin: "Bottom line:  Any trauma, psychological/physical abuse or neglect is something that is completely 'out of a child's control'. And believe it or not obesity is not about 'out of control eating' it is just the opposite!

Eating disorders and chronic over-eating is always about a child/person being able to FINALLY CONTROL something and that is what they put into their own body...they are in charge.  No one else can control that part of their life, so they eat to get control.

The other piece is that most people 'eat rather unconsciously', not listening to their bodies about when they are full, but only paying close attention to what the food feels like in their mouths which helps them live in the 'here and now' instead of thinking about what might happen or what did happen in the past.  So in order to 'not feel', people eat!

So a child with a trauma experience will continue to try to 'not feel' the pain over and over again even after the trauma is gone so they do not have to ever feel the pain or out of control again...since it is just like re-living the trauma over and over again.

Since my expertise is always in applications of tools of 'what to do' if you experience feelings you don't know how to deal with, my best advice is to get kids to get 'in touch' with their feelings by controlling the here and now.  So, first and foremost, I always teach parents to teach their child to touch their stomachs after each bite of food in order to feel 'in control' of their bodies and feelings by being in control of stopping when they are full!"

Fore more practical parenting methods visit Dr. Ann's website The Parenting Doctor.