Why is this difficult? The more you shame fat kids (and I was a fat kid, then an eating-disordered teen and now am a smallish fat adult) the less likely fat kids are to care about their health, play sports, go outside or develop the peer relationships that teach you to be a social being and contribute to both mental and physical health. When you shame fat kids, you make it much more likely that they’ll intensify harmful behaviors, whether it’s eating junk, cutting, having sex that they don’t want to have or other risky behavior.