A new study published in JAMA Health Forum believes that obesity rates in the United States have declined for the first time in a decade, partly due to popular weight loss drugs such as semaglutide. According to the data in the report, the number of obese people in the United States has been steadily rising, and the average BMI (body mass index) has also climbed along with it. But in 2023, the situation has changed: the proportion of obese (BMI greater than or equal to 30) dropped from 44.1% the previous year to 43.96%.
The researchers said the decrease was small but significant. The biggest changes occurred in the southern United States, where prescription drugs are most concentrated, the analysis said. This has led reports to suggest that drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly may be playing a role in the U.S. obesity epidemic.
Benjamin Rader, a researcher at Boston Children's Hospital who led the study, told the media, "We are already seeing the effects in the data." Rader and his colleagues tracked the obesity epidemic over the past decade by analyzing millions of electronic health records and insurance claims data.
They used insurance claims to map the prescription distribution of drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro. These GLP-1 drugs can delay gastric emptying, increase satiety and suppress appetite, thereby effectively reducing food intake and achieving weight loss.
Currently, millions of Americans struggle with obesity, which increases the risk of dangerous health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Research from The Lancet shows that if the rising obesity rate in the United States is not reversed, it will put pressure on the medical insurance system and significantly increase medical costs in the next 25 years.
Experts have mentioned that safe and effective weight-loss drugs have the potential to change this trajectory, but their use has been hampered by supply shortages and high prices. In response, Rader said that even in the face of these challenges, these drugs are starting to have an impact.
"While obesity remains a considerable public health problem, the observed decline in obesity prevalence represents an encouraging reversal from previous long-term increases," the researchers wrote.
As mentioned above, the drug's impact was most pronounced in the South, where obesity rates dropped to 45% from 46% the previous year. Across the region, an average of 6% of residents received a prescription for the drug, compared with 5.1% in the Midwest, 4.4% in the Northeast and 3.4% in the West.
The report acknowledges that obese people in the south are dying from coronavirus in disproportionately high numbers, which may have affected their findings. But they said the highest concentration of COVID-19 deaths occurred earlier, so this does not explain the decline in obesity.
Rader expects that as access to these drugs increases, obesity-related health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, will decrease. Currently, fewer than 20 states have Medicaid coverage for weight-loss drugs.