Cognitive-behavioural treatments for obesity

The effects of the original behavioural treatment have been studied exhaustively and the limits of this very useful approach have been delineated. Further developments have largely come from combining it with other modes of treatment or from delivering it in more intensive ways. The knowledge base has been limited to operant psychology, despite the fact that study of the psychology of appetite has developed extensively in the two decades since Stuart's original paper of 1967 (Stuart RB. Behavioral control of overeating. Behav Res Ther 1967; 5: 357-365). Many fundamental processes such as the role of conditioning in the development of satiety, and the effects of monotony and variety, have important implications for the treatment of obesity which have yet to be explored.