| Last Thursday, we published an article headlined "Body shaming yourself: How to fight the 'pervasive sense that there's something wrong with you.'" The negative self-talk that the story addresses occurs when people internalize the often-toxic messages that society sends regarding which bodies are and aren't acceptable. That's why it's disappointing, but not surprising, that among the more than 400 online comments on an article about internal body shaming, there were plenty of people who engaged in external body shaming, sometimes in the guise of helping. "I am not going to shame overweight people, but I think reminding them (and myself) that they are literally killing themselves is actually probably helpful," one reader wrote. Actually, no, it's not helpful. As mentioned in the article, research has shown that body shaming does not miraculously make overweight people start exercise and eating more healthfully (not that exercising and eating more healthfully solves all issues of excess weight). In fact, it can make things worse. An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal headlined, "Fat shaming is making people sicker and heavier" explains it this way: Weight bias is a form of stress that increases cortisol levels and causes a drop in self control, which can lead to binge eating. "Fat shaming is also linked to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders and exercise avoidance," the article said. (For more research on this topic, check out this paper from the International Journal of Obesity.) Internalized body shaming can be especially dangerous, according to the CMAJ article, which noted that participants in one study who had "high levels of internalization of weight-bias had three times greater odds of having metabolic syndrome than those with low levels, even after controlling for BMI and other risk factors." So, if you truly care about the health of someone who is struggling with their weight, research shows, the best thing you can do is to keep those concerns to yourself. Take care! Wellness wisdom of the week: "Most people feel a pang of regretted action (I wish I hadn't done that!) quickly and intensely, but regret over inaction (I should have done that) lingers longer. When looking back on life, we tend to most regret not taking chances and opportunities that could have brought us closer to being the person we want to be." – from our story about forgiving yourself for mistakes, written by psychologist Jelena Kecmanovic | 
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