The first aim of the present paper is to discuss the possible contribution of emotional eating to the general increase of overweight including obesity. Emotional eating is a well-established predictor of dieting success and an important factor in the disturbed affect-regulation of eating disordered women. However, its role in the recent increase of overweight in the general population is still largely unknown. For several reasons, it can be deemed unlikely that emotional eating is a major determinant, although monitoring its role in general weight normalising programs seems wise. Compared with (feminine) dieting aimed at slenderness, health-related weight normalising in the context of largescale overweight might, maybe therefore, be less risky in terms of eating disorder development. The second aim of the paper is to inventory the major determinants of the recent general increase of overweight that are also target factors for prevention and treatment. These factors are eating behavior, moving including exercise, and the extent to which the living environment enables healthy eating behavior as well as exercising and natural moving. Attention is paid to some relevant cross-cultural differences in living environment between the USA and The Netherlands.