ROME - Pope Francis has criticised the practice of so-called “fat shaming” or “body shaming”  - and admitted that he once bullied a boy who was overweight.

In a lengthy video call with young people from south Asia, Francis confessed to making life miserable for a child because he was fat.

Responding to a question from a young woman named Merlin from India, who said that as a teenager she would cry herself to sleep because she was teased for being overweight, Pope Francis said this mentality “is something that is influencing us”.