Weight-stigmatizing messages shown by media - ones characterizing overweight individuals as lazy weak-willed self-indulgent and contributing to rising health care costs could be tipping the scales in the wrong direction a new research has suggested. According to UC Santa Barbara psychology professor Brenda Major's research when women who perceive themselves as overweight are exposed to weight-stigmatizing news articles they are less able to control their eating afterward than are women who don't perceive themselves that way. The researchers asked half of the participants to read a mock article from The New York Times titled 'Lose Weight or Lose Your Job.'