Image via Channel 10.

In last night’s episode of TBL Families, Dr Norman Swan sat the contestants down and informed them all of their “body age” to show how obesity had aged their bodies.

While most contestants discovered their bodies were over 10 years “older” than they should be, the show took 28-year-old Sylvia’s results “reveal” one step further, forcing trainer Tiffiny Hall to wear Sylvia’s “excess” weight strapped to her body.

Visibly straining to carry the 80 kilogram vests, Hall struggled.

“Oh Syl – this is disgusting. I hate this, I hate this feeling. Sylvia – this is painful,” she said.

As the cameras panned to Sylvia’s face, she was distraught. Crying with her head in her hands.

Sylvia was reduced to tears. Image via Channel 10.

"Seeing Tiffiny put on all that extra weight - my extra weight - it nearly killed me," she said.

"I've never been more embarrassed in my life seeing Tiffiny barely breathe, she could barely walk and to know that's my daily life."

While producers might find this sort of heart-wrenching display to be "TV gold", experts fear that it could be at the expense of the contestants' health: both mentally and physically.

"It's more humiliating than helpful. When someone is humiliated, it causes them to feel even more down and upset about their body image and self esteem which can seriously affect their motivation to lose weight," explains Sydney psychologist Maria Faustino.

"I'd be interested in whether the purpose of the move was to motivate the contestant or whether they were just trying to get people talking."

Of course it's important to increase awareness about how carrying extra body weight can be detrimental to health, but Dr Yuliya Richard of Blue Horizons Counselling argues there are better ways to go about it.

"Reducing the problem to a negative remark is not helpful  - being positive and optimistic is more beneficial. People need to know that they deserve to be healthy and live the life they want to live," she says. (Post continues after gallery.)

Celebs share their positive body image advice.

Rebel Wilson

The actress said on Twitter; "I'm not trying to be hot. I'm just trying to be a good actress and entertain people." Image via @rebelwilson

Adele"The first thing to do is be happy with yourself and appreciate your body - only then should you try to change things about yourself." Image via Getty

Lady Gaga

After the media focused on her alleged weight gain in September 2012, Gaga hit back at critics by baring her body in photographs, sharing her struggles with an eating disorder, and inviting her fans to join her in a "body revolution"/ Image via @ladygaga

Ashley Judd

After the March 2012 frenzy around Judd's "puffy face" the actress fought back in 'The Daily Beast', calling the media out for making women's bodies "a source of speculation, ridicule, and invalidation, as if they belong to others". Image via @ashley_judd

Christina Aguilera

"I am always in support of someone who is willing and comfortable in their own skin enough to embrace it," the singer said in a recent interview. Image via @xtina

Lena Dunham

At the 2012 New Yorker Festival, the magazine's TV critic, Emily Nussbaum, asked Lena Dunham, producer, creator and star of the hit HBO show 'Girls' why Dunham is naked in so many scenes. Dunham responded; "I realised that what was missing in movies for me was the presence of bodies I understood." She said she plans to live until she is 105 and show her thighs every day. Image via @lenadunham

Alexa Chung

Chung responded to critics who suggested that her slight frame made her a bad role model for young women, saying: "Just because I exist in this shape doesn't mean that I'm, like, advocating it." Image via Twitter @alexa_chung

Stella BoonshoftThe NYU student started the amazing Body Love Blog, where she posted this picture of herself and wrote an open letter to those who feel entitled to shame others for the size or look of their bodies. Image via http://thebodyloveblog.tumblr.com"> Body Love Blog

Beth Ditto

This five-foot-tall, 200-pound singer spoke openly about her weight to 'The Advocate' saying, "I feel sorry ... for people who've had skinny privilege and then have it taken away from them. I have had a lifetime to adjust to seeing how people treat women who aren't their idea of beautiful and therefore aren't their idea of useful, and I had to find ways to become useful to myself." Image via @marybethditto

Focusing on internal motivations such as a healthy and happy future can often work as a more lasting source of motivation, rather than external factors like, you know, humiliation on national television.

Dr Richard recommends taking a holistic approach that deals with any underlying issues that could be contributing to the problem, such as relationship breakdowns, rather than just focusing on the aesthetic aspects of someone's health.

"Exercise, psychological intervention, counselling, lifestyle adjustments and positive self-belief should be considered when addressing weight management issues," she says. (Post continues after video.)

Sadly this "embarrassing" treatment of contestants isn't isolated. Earlier in the season, trainers were forced to eat the same diet as their contestants which resulted in Michelle Bridges citing she was "pissed off" about her subsequent weight gain.

“The Biggest Loser is pretty famous for not only fat shaming but food shaming, especially when they’ve got a whole bunch of the person’s typical food and laid it out in front of them like a stick to beat them with," Accredited Practising Dietician and Nutritionist Nicole Senior also previously told The Glow .

“We need to avoid establishing a ‘food fight’, if you like, where it’s a constant battle. It’s more helpful if we disassociate food from emotions, especially emotions such as guilt.”

Do you agree with the show's approach to weight loss and health?