Extensive scientific literature now links disordered relationships to food, as well, with early trauma and family stress. Recall that the seminal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study began after the lead investigator, Dr. Vincent Felitti, began to pay heed to the life histories of patients at the obesity clinic where he served as medical director. “We could help them lose weight,” Dr. Felitti told me, “but not to keep it off. I kept wondering why, until I finally got the message. ‘Don’t you get it?’ they said. ‘We’re stuffing down our pain.’”
