This chapter reviews how conceptualizations of eating disorders have evolved and highlights the power of social context in the development and maintenance of these 'diseases'. It reviews current research into eating disorders, which spans numerous disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry, sociology, and more recently genetics and molecular biology. The 1940s and 1950s saw the rise of psychoanalysis in psychiatry, and so followed a dominance of psychoanalytic perspectives on anorexia nervosa and obesity. Biopsychosocial approaches in multidisciplinary conceptualizations recognize component contributions of biological vulnerabilities, psychological vulnerabilities and environmental triggers. The developmental approach is the next logical step in the evolution of the diagnosis of eating disorders, which call for a careful consideration of multiple pathogenetic factors in an effort to deliver effective treatments. History demonstrates that eating behaviours are sensitive to stress and environmental demands, particularly in children and adolescents, and particularly in women.