Here it comes: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have turned their focus on obesity, apparently hoping that their first conference on the topic will ratchet up efforts to prevent it.

I'm just wondering if they'll have any voices from the eating disorder research and treatment community there. Hope so. It's those voices who can chime in saying that some efforts to prevent obesity can actually make it worse.

For example, researcher Walter Kaye, M.D., notes in a 2008 paper in the journal Physiology and Behavior that "loss of control with overeating in individuals with [bulimia nervosa] usually occurs intermittently and typically only some time after the onset of dieting behavior." Dietitians say that binge eating in those with bulimia is less prominent when they feed themselves more fully.

"Ah, but that's bulimia," you say. You're right, but research demonstrates that in general, dieting often leads to binge eating and weight gain rather than weight loss.

So here's the rub: If obesity prevention is all about telling people to eat less and "get healthy" by restricting their food intake, the efforts may create more obesity than they prevent.

• Alternatives to child dieting
• Are you an emotional eater?
• Bodybuilders - an "obese" population

Over the past year, roughly 17% of American households postponed health care. For many families, when there's a possibility of putting some kind of treatment on hold, it's been put on hold. Recessions are no fun.

It could be another reason for many not to get started in eating disorder treatment. But, as with many health problems, starting earlier in ED treatment is less expensive than starting later.

• Getting the help you need
• Most effective anorexia treatment - also cost-effective!
• Should a psychiatrist lead your treatment team?

The problem with eating disorders being so much more common in women is that men can have a hard time knowing what they're facing. And others may not see it as easily, either. If you see a man on the street who's extremely thin, do you wonder about an eating disorder, or do you assume something else? Does this differ from how you see a very thin woman?

If a man eats more than you might expect at a sitting, he might get a pat on the back from his buddies and some admiring comments. It doesn't mean that he's not binging, though.

The question is (if the claims of some researchers are true) why men are continuing to close the gap with women. Gay men with eating disorders remain more common than straight men, but straight men are gaining on gay men as well.

• How different kinds of men fall into eating disorders
• Men's body image issues getting more complex
• The face of bigorexia

...it's really a sensory disorder that makes food difficult to eat (as demonstrated by one South Carolina 9-year-old). For some, the texture and taste of food can be so off-putting that eating becomes a major trial.

Sensory processing disorders can look like eating disorders when people seem to restrict food for no apparent reason. If there's anxiety involved as well, it may deepen the disguise.

But those with anorexia nervosa generally feel substantial guilt after eating as they struggle with the question of whether they even deserve to eat. This subjective experience is a significant part of what motivates those with anorexia to avoid life-giving food.

• What is sensory processing disorder?
• Making taste and texture work for you
• The symptoms of anorexia

There's no doubting that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson were two of the most visible cultural icons of recent history. Their impact in the entertainment world was, and is, enormous.

Fawcett was one of the most recognizable symbols of the 1970s. Her Charlie's Angels TV stint sparked her rise to fame, as viewers relished the notion of sexy detectives. Fawcett was perhaps singled out for her appearance more than her co-stars.

Jackson, of course, blistered pop charts with pulsing dance beats and double-take dance moves. He was a spectacle unto himself; he did things that no one had done before him in music and entertainment. News of Jackson eventually focused more on his eccentricities, none more so than his multiple surgeries to alter his appearance.

Fawcett was 62; Jackson just 50. Their deaths are wrenching reminders that image, including body image, does not create immortality. It doesn't shield a person from tragedy. I have no idea whether self-image dominated the thoughts of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson; I certainly didn't know either. But many of us do have such thoughts that consume us. What could we be doing with that energy that creates legacies of which we can be proud?

• Body image in eating disorders
• Changing influences on male body image
• When the brain sees body parts inaccurately (body dysmorphic disorder)

It turns out that Stephanie Pratt of The Hills has uncovered her history of binging and purging. The early stories suggested that she blamed the pressures of co-stars' thin bodies as the chief reason. But she's since acknowledged that this was more a result of an eating disorder already present than a cause of it.

How do you react? Do you think, "Really? What does she look like? How bad was it?" Or might you think, "Oh, no no no. Please, let her get beyond this and feel freedom again." It can be tough with our sensationalized media to get our minds in good places.

The irony is that even when a celeb might be seeking publicity rather than truly struggling with an ED (no evidence of that here that I've seen), it's still an indictment of our cultural focus on image. Remember that people with eating disorders aren't simply trying to get attention. There are much stronger forces at work.

• Genetic influence on eating disorders
• Other celebrities with eating disorders
• The complexities of bulimia nervosa

It's pretty common for studies to examine people with eating disorders to understand more about what other kinds of disorders may be present. These studies have shown that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relatively frequent problem in those with eating disorders. What a new study has found is that the relationship also seems to occur in the other direction: As many as 1 in 5 people with OCD (and 1 in 3 with other anxiety issues) may have eating disorders.

That's a huge portion of the eating disorder population. The researchers make what seems to be a valid conclusion: Health workers should be on the lookout for disordered eating when they see anxiety issues in their exam rooms and offices.

• Rituals common in both eating disorders and OCD
• Orthorexia - when getting food "right" is crucial
• Some personality issues can also accompany eating problems
• Cutting can make EDs more painful

The winds are changing. An editor at Vogue says that her magazine is often modifying pictures of models to make them look larger.

Why are they using models who are uncomfortably thin in the first place? Because that's the size of clothing that designers send out.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (probably many times): If you can't design attractive clothes for the actual human body, you could probably use your artistic talents more profitably in some other form of design. Architecture, maybe?

• Clock ticking? Timeline of the movement to halt use of too-thin models
• Editor is following in the footsteps of at least one fashion house
• Hope that changes are happening

Kirstie Alley is bouncing around the headlines once again. You know the topic - her weight. The stunning thing (and one of the things that could keep tabloids gushing about the issue) is that Ms. Alley continues to pummel herself with quote after quote about how disgusting she is.

Sorry, Kirstie. I don't agree with that notion, and you won't be able to convince me otherwise.

However, she is being awfully hard on other people who might otherwise find beauty in themselves. In other words, her ability to be a good role model isn't determined by her size, but by her grace in responding to it.

• Learning to trust your body
• Why binge eating is really deprivation
• How related are body mass index and health?

It's an unfortunate statistic: Women are much more likely to be anxious or depressed (and even suicidal) than men. As you may know, depression, anxiety, and a number of other mental health issues are common problems in those with eating disorders.

The reason for the gender disparity isn't clear (though with many mental health issues, there are multiple factors in play). A core problem in addressing mental health problems in women is the lingering attitude that emotional disturbances are more likely because women are more emotional in general, and that there's not much we can do about it.

But there are more influences on women than simple emotional tendencies. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that 40% of women experience some form of sexual violence (no typo there - the rate is 10% for men). Are the mental health issues related? It's too easy to point to individual statistics and try to say that one problem is the cause and a given mental health problem is the effect. That's sloppy reasoning. But what we do have to consider is that, given the statistics, women with eating disorders are likely to have other problems that may complicate treatment. And dealing with a person's whole experience (regardless of gender) is key in fostering lasting, healthy change.

• How sexual abuse and other trauma can give eating problems traction
• Eating disorder statistics
• Do you have an eating disorder?