Abstract
Albert J. (“Mickey”) Stunkard, MD, was a leader in the field of obesity research, with his work spanning more than five decades. He published several groundbreaking findings on the psychosocial influences of obesity, the genetics of obesity, and the relationship between obesity and factors such as socioeconomic status, stigma, and mood. He also helped establish two eating disorders associated with obesity—binge eating disorder and night eating syndrome. This paper highlights his work and its implications for the field.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance
Stunkard AJ. Beginners mind: trying to learn something about obesity. Ann Behav Med. 1991;13(2):51–6.
Stunkard AJ, Grace WJ, Wolff HG. The night-eating syndrome—a pattern of food intake among certain obese patients. Am J Med. 1955;19(1):78–86.
Stunkard AJ. Eating patterns and obesity. Psychiatr Q. 1959;33:284–95.
Stunkard AJ, Allison KC. Two forms of disordered eating in obesity: binge eating and night eating. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003;27(1):1–12.
Stunkard AJ. The dieting depression; incidence and clinical characteristics of untoward responses to weight reduction regimens. Am J Med. 1957;23(1):77–86.
Smoller JW, Wadden TA, Stunkard AJ. Dieting and depression: a critical review. J Psychosom Res. 1987;31(4):429–40.
Stunkard AJ. The pain of obesity. Boulder: Bull Publishing; 1976.
Coll M, Meyer A, Stunkard AJ. Obesity and food choices in public places. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1979;36(7):795–7.
Stunkard AJ, Messick S. The three-factor eating questionnaire to measure dietary restraint, disinhibition and hunger. J Psychosom Res. 1985;29(1):71–83. This measure has become the most widely used measure of psychological influences of eating factors related to weight regulation and obesity.
Westenhoefer J, Stunkard AJ, Pudel V. Validation of the flexible and rigid control dimensions of dietary restraint. Int J Eat Disord. 1999;26(1):53–64.
Stunkard AJ, Wadden TA. Restrained eating and human obesity. Nutr Rev. 1990;48(2):78–86.
Richardson SA, Goodman N, Hastorf AH, Dornbusch SM. Cultural uniformity in reaction to physical disabilities. Am Sociol Rev. 1961;26:241–7.
Latner JD, Stunkard AJ. Getting worse: the stigmatization of obese children. Obes Res. 2003;11(3):452–6.
Stunkard AJ, Sørensen TI, Hanis C, et al. An adoption study of human obesity. N Engl J Med. 1986;314(4):193–8. This groundbreaking study was the first to highlight the extensive role of heritability in weight status. This led to a generation of genetics studies and helped reframe the role of behavioral factors in the development and maintenance of obesity.
Stunkard AJ, Harris JR, Pedersen NL, McClearn GE. The body-mass index of twins who have been reared apart. N Engl J Med. 1990;322(21):1483–7.
Goldblatt PB, Moore ME, Stunkard AJ. Social factors in obesity. JAMA. 1965;152:1039–42.
Sobal J, Stunkard AJ. Socioeconomic status and obesity: a review of the literature. Psychol Bull. 1989;105(2):260–75. This review highlighted the relationship of SES status with weight, and how this relationship differed in developed vs undeveloped countries.
Stunkard AJ, Faith MS, Allison KC. Depression and obesity. Biol Psychiatry. 2003;54(3):330–7.
Stunkard AJ, Craighead LW, O’Brien R. Controlled trial of behaviour therapy, pharmacotherapy, and their combination in the treatment of obesity. Lancet. 1980;2(8203):1045–7.
Mills MJ, Stunkard AJ. Behavioral changes following surgery for obesity. Am J Psychiatry. 1976;133(5):527–31.
Wadden TA, Stunkard AJ. Controlled trial of very low calorie diet, behavior therapy, and their combination in the treatment of obesity. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1986;54(4):482–8.
Wadden TA, Berkowitz RI, Womble LG, et al. Randomized trial of lifestyle modification and pharmacotherapy for obesity. N Engl J Med. 2005;353(20):2111–20.
Wadden TA, Berkowitz RI, Silvestry F, et al. The fen-phen finale: a study of weight loss and valvular heart disease. Obes Res. 1998;6(4):278–84.
Stunkard AJ, Brownell KD. Work-site treatment for obesity. Am J Psychiatry. 1980;137(2):252–3.
Brownell KD, Stunkard AJ, McKeon PE. Weight reduction at the work site: a promise partially fulfilled. Am J Psychiatry. 1985;142(1):47–52.
Halmi KA, Stunkard AJ, Mason EE. Emotional responses to weight reduction by three methods: gastric bypass, jejunoileal bypass, diet. Am J Clin Nutr. 1980;33(2 Suppl):446–51.
Halmi KA, Mason E, Falk JR, Stunkard AJ. Appetitive behavior after gastric bypass for obesity. Int J Obes. 1981;5(5):457–64.
Stunkard AJ, Penick SB. Behavior modification in the treatment of obesity. The problem of maintaining weight loss. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1979;36(7):801–6.
Jeffery RW, Drewnowski A, Epstein LH, et al. Long-term maintenance of weight loss: current status. Health Psychol. 2000;19(1 Suppl):5–16.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
Stunkard AJ, Allison KC. Binge eating disorder: disorder or marker? Int J Eat Disord. 2003;34(Suppl):S107–16.
Stunkard A, Berkowitz R, Tanrikut C, Reiss E, Young L. d-Fenfluramine treatment of binge eating disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 1996;153(11):1455–9.
Jacobs-Pilipski MJ, Wilfley DE, Crow SJ, et al. Placebo response in binge eating disorder. Int J Eat Disord. 2007;40(3):204–11.
Rogers NL, Dinges DF, Allison KC, et al. Assessment of sleep in women with night eating syndrome. Sleep. 2006;29(6):814–9.
Allison KC, Ahima RS, O’Reardon JP, et al. Neuroendocrine profiles associated with energy intake, sleep, and stress in the night eating syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005;90(11):6214–7.
O’Reardon JP, Ringel BL, Dinges DF, et al. Circadian eating and sleeping patterns in the night eating syndrome. Obes Res. 2004;12(11):1789–96.
Allison KC, Lundgren JD, O’Reardon JP, et al. The night eating questionnaire (NEQ): psychometric properties of a measure of severity of the night eating syndrome. Eat Behav. 2008;9(1):62–72.
O’Reardon JP, Allison KC, Martino NS, Lundgren JD, Heo M, Stunkard AJ. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of sertraline in the treatment of night eating syndrome. Am J Psychiatry. 2006;163(5):893–8.
Stunkard AJ, Allison KC, Lundgren JD, et al. A paradigm for facilitating pharmacotherapy at a distance: sertraline treatment of the night eating syndrome. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67(10):1568–72.
Allison KC, Lundgren JD, Moore RH, O’Reardon JP, Stunkard AJ. Cognitive behavior therapy for night eating syndrome: a pilot study. Am J Psychother. 2010;64(1):91–106.
Lundgren JD, Newberg AB, Allison KC, Wintering NA, Ploessl K, Stunkard AJ. 123I-ADAM SPECT imaging of serotonin transporter binding in patients with night eating syndrome: a preliminary report. Psychiatry Res. 2008;162(3):214–20.
Goncalves MD, Moore RH, Stunkard AJ, Allison KC. The treatment of night eating: the patient’s perspective. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2009;17(3):184–90.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psychological Issues
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Allison, K.C., Lundgren, J.D. & Wadden, T.A. Albert J. Stunkard: His Research on Obesity and Its Psychological Impact. Curr Obes Rep 5, 140–144 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-016-0199-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-016-0199-6