The prevailing logic seems to be that overweight people need to constantly be reminded that they’re unacceptably heavy (for their own good, natch). However shockingly enough, shaming overweight people and sending the message that their weight is a personal failure doesn’t do much good. When obese people internalize the anti-fat stigma, they’re more likely to become depressed and suffer from low self-esteem, which can lead to overeating, inactivity, and weight gain.

Rebecca Puhl, the director of research at Yale’s Rudd Center Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and co-author of the study, points out that it’s actually harmful to suggest that being fat is so shameful that people’s heads must not be shown to protect their privacy. She says:

“News photographs degrade and dehumanize obese individuals when they show them with their heads cut out of images, as isolated body parts, or with an unflattering emphasis on excess weight. They become symbols of an epidemic rather than valued members of society.”