Psychological and behavioural risk factors for obesity onset in adolescence

Andrew Hill is a Chartered Psychologist and Professor of Medical Psychology in the Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Leeds University School of Medicine. He is co-ordinator of undergraduate teaching in Medical Behavioural Sciences, and is also involved in the postgraduate training of Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrists.

He gained his PhD at Leeds with research on short-term influences on hunger and satiety, working with Professor John Blundell. Appointed to a permanent lectureship in 1988, he spent 1997 as Visiting Fellow with Professor Ian Caterson at the Human Nutrition Unit, University of Sydney. Andrew became an elected committee member of the UK Association for the Study of Obesity in 1990 and was Chairman of the ASO from 1999-2002. He is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

Andrew is an Associate Editor of the British Journal of Clinical Psychology and is on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Obesity, Body Image, and the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. He has been involved in several national and international initiatives on obesity. He has research collaborations in the UK and Australia, particularly in the area of child obesity. He has published over one hundred academic Journal papers and book chapters on obesity, eating disorders and appetite. His research interests include the developmental origins of body shape and weight concern; the treatment and prevention of child obesity; self-esteem and self-appraisal in child and adult obesity; eating disorders; and food cravings, aversions and appetite control.