A recent study published by Major et al. in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology demonstrated that media messages designed to help individuals eat less may actually be having the opposite effect. In this study, young women exposed to weight-stigmatizing messages were
less likely to control their feeding habits than those exposed to other messages. "Many people who are overweight feel helpless to
control their weight," said Major. "Our study illustrates that
articles and ads about the obesity epidemic that imply it's just a matter of
self-control can make overweight people feel even more helpless and out of
control of their eating." For a full description of the article, click HERE to be taken to ScienceDaily.
