Obesity Special Interest Group


Mission: Promote the health and well-being of youth who are overweight or obese and their families by fostering the provision of evidence-based assessment and treatment methods utilizing the principles of psychology.

Purpose: Provide a forum for communication and collaboration in both clinical and research realms, in order to further the field’s knowledge of developmental and contextual factors contributing to the etiology of obesity, course and outcome of pediatric obesity, assessment and treatment of behavioral and emotional comorbidities, and obesity prevention initiatives.

Aim: Provide education, training and mentoring of psychologists in the care of youth with overweight or obesity and advocacy for public policy.

History:  Founding chair—Wendy L. Ward, PhD ABPP and founding vice chair—Ann M. Davis, PhD, MPH, ABPP.

  • 2007  SIG began as an unofficial interest group
  • 2009 SIG began meeting at Division 54 Regional conference
  • 2010 Became an official SIG of Division 54
  • 2012 SIG had its first elections for terms starting in 2013

Subcommittees: The SIG has multiple subcommittees to foster SIG research, collaboration, networking and coordination. Join and get involved! For more information, check out our SIG webpage.

  • Advocacy
  • Assessment and Measurements
  • Bariatric Surgery
  • Clinical Issues
  • Membership
  • Membership Engagement
  • Newsletter
  • Research
  • SPPAC Physical Activity
  • Technology
  • Website Development

Visit the Obesity SIG website to join or for more information.

To Join


SPP invites members with a shared interest to consider joining one or more Special Interest Groups (SIGs) by logging into the Member Portal and going to "Join a SIG/RIG/Affinity Group" on the dropbox.