A questionnaire was constructed to examine the relationship between eating habits and emotional attitudes toward food. This was administered to 60 individuals who varied widely in body weight relative to the statistically determined optimum for their age and sex. Correlations between item scores and weight discrepancy values from optimum revealed a number of significant correlations. The more the degree of overweight, the greater the tendency to have problems in three areas: depression, anxiety and impulsivity. In addition, the number of overweight relatives in one's immediate family also is related to an individual's degree of overweight. Some implications for the therapy of obesity were suggested.