The emotional abuse would register on the ACE test, if the dad yelled, swore at, or insulted them frequently, or ever threatened physical harm. Nothing else, though.

Do you have a source on that? It’s not even mentioned in my public health textbooks. Just that these are childhood traumas that still affect you later in life. You’d think there wouldn’t be that 5 year age restriction on sexual abuse, in that case, in order to cast a wider net.

But given that ACE is just the most common, I would still rather obesity and food addiction are studied beyond just ACE scores. There could be a lot of specific factors to obesity outside their scope.

Having a sibling with severe medical problems definitely causes relational trauma. Less time & attention to go around. My other sister and I fought like crazy, but never with my little sister, so we ended up taking things out on each other when we were mad at her or our parents, etc. I lived in a different world from all the other kids at school because I was worried about real, grown-up problems like insurance not paying for necessary medications or equipment. No one else understood me. It definitely affects trust and the ability to get close with others.

ACE really only paints a small picture of actual childhood trauma. I had a sibling who had severe medical problems, frequent hospitalizations, and died when I was a teenager, which is not registered at all on the test. I have a friend who was repeatedly molested by a sibling two years older than her - also zero points. Another friend nearly died of cancer as a kid, but that's not on there, either. IDK why they made it so narrow. I mean, I know they can't put every trauma on there. But it feels like a lot is left off.