Obesity researchers from Yale University say that online news outlets overwhelmingly use negative images of overweight people — in ill-fitting clothes or eating fast food — to illustrate stories about obesity. The practice perpetuates fat stigma, the researchers say, and may contribute to obesity itself.

For the new study, the researchers looked at 429 news stories about obesity, along with their accompanying photos, published on five major news websites. Of the photos depicting overweight or obese people, the study found, 72% portrayed them “in a negative, stigmatizing manner.”

More than half of overweight people were shown in headless body shots, pictures that centered unflatteringly on the abdomen or lower body — compared with thin subjects, the overweight were 23 times more likely to have their heads cut out of photos. Obese people were also significantly more likely to be pictured from the side or rear, unclothed or in slovenly attire, eating unhealthy food and being lazy.

Fat Stigma: How Online News May Worsen the Problem of Obesity – TIME Healthland