Obesity is not a choice and making people feel ashamed results only in them feeling worse about themselves, a report by top psychologists says.

Axar.az reports citing BBC.

It calls for changes in language to reduce stigma, such as saying "a person with obesity" rather than an "obese person".

And it says health professionals should be trained to talk about weight loss in a more supportive way.

A cancer charity's recent ad campaign was criticised for "fat shaming".

Obesity levels rose by 18% in England between 2005 and 2017 and by similar amounts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This means just over one in four UK adults is obese while nearly two-thirds are overweight or obese.

But these increases cannot be explained by a sudden loss of motivation across the UK - it is a lot more complicated than that, according to the British Psychological Society report, which concludes it "is not simply down to an individual's lack of willpower".