The US has passed peak obesity, a new survey suggests. Is it the Ozempic effect?

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Louise Thomas

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The United States has passed peak obesity, according to new data, suggesting that the sweeping uptake of weight-loss drugs could be having an effect.

The obesity rate in American adults fell by 2 percent between 2020 and 2023, according to a US National Health and Nutrition Examination survey.

The new survey showed no significant difference in the drop in obesity between men and women. However it did note that the prevalence of severe obesity was higher in women than men from each group.

It also found that the prevalence of obesity was lower in adults with a bachelor’s degree or and higher in adults with less education.

And while no direct link has been established between weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic and the decline in obesity, it does appear to be a strong possibility, considering the medications hit the market around 2021.

Approximately one in eight US adults have tried weight loss drugs, and more than 15 million are using a prescription. Novo Nordisk, the company behind Wegovy, told Fox Business in May that at least 25,000 Americans were starting the drug every week.

A study using data from 2020 to 2023, published in May, found a 594 percent increase of young adults and teens using this new generation of weight loss drugs each month.

Meanwhile the new survey showed that rates of obesity were dropping faster among college graduates, according to analysis of the data byThe Financial Times.

Two in five adults and nearly 15 million children and teenagers are obese in the US with rates rising more than 11 percent from the late 1990s through 2020. Obesity increases the risk of certain types of cancer, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and premature death.

The new National Health survey is based on weight and height measurements taken by those in medical professions, and not in figures reported by patients, making the data more reliable, the FT notes.

The weight loss drugs, originally intended to treat diabetes, work by mimicking a natural hormone that can suppress a user’s appetite.

While Wegovy is one of a handful of drugs approved by the FDA for weight loss, Ozempic is only approved for Type 2 diabetes treatment.