Weight-loss drugs: only part of answer to obesity

The Food Foundation report shows that nearly 7% of the UK population have already used GLP-1 drugs, while 8% are considering or have considered them

An estimated 8.25 million adults in the UK are now considering or using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, as demand for obesity treatments accelerates across both the NHS and private healthcare.

The new report by The Food Foundation found that nearly 7% of the UK population have already used GLP-1 drugs, while a further 8% are considering or have considered taking them. GLP-1 drugs, originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, use semaglutide to mimic a natural gut hormone to regulate appetite, increase feelings of fullness, and slow digestion.

Semaglutide is available on the NHS in England for people with obesity, and Ozempic (a brand name for semaglutide) is prescribed by the NHS as a treatment for people with type 2 diabetes.

Katharine Jenner, Executive Director of Obesity Health Alliance, said: "Expanding NHS access is necessary, but only part of the answer. These medicines should be a reset moment to improve the food environment, while also supporting the health of people living with obesity. Lasting progress will depend on doing both.” 

In April, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also approved another GLP-1 drug, Wegovy for the NHS, with 1.2 million people with cardiovascular disease eligible to receive the treatment to help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

The rapid uptake of GLP-1 drugs is increasingly being viewed by public-health experts as a symptom of a wider UK food environment shaped by ultra-processed foods (UPFs), weak prevention policy and rising obesity-related illness. Rather than solving the obesity crisis, experts argue, the drugs may instead reveal how modern healthcare systems have become reliant on medical interventions to compensate for unhealthy environments.

“…food businesses and investors must continue to ensure wholesale shifts in portfolios towards food offerings that are both healthy and affordable." 

"The government must remain focussed on the wider prevention agenda,” says Rebecca Tobi, Head of Food Business Transformation, at the Food Foundation. “And food businesses and investors must continue to ensure wholesale shifts in portfolios towards food offerings that are both healthy and affordable."

Tobi says that while there can be no doubt that GLP-1 drugs are a highly effective treatment option for people with obesity and related conditions, significant questions remain about their long-term impact.

"There remain a number of gaps in the evidence base, wider unanswered questions around the potential impact on health inequities, and the risk of unintended consequences from unregulated online prescription of the drugs and their long-term use.”

Currently, NHS GLP-1 prescriptions last two years, but studies show rapid weight regain when patients return to a food environment where unhealthy options are more accessible and affordable than healthy ones.

Sara Stanner, Science Director from the British Nutrition Foundation says, lasting success depends on the healthy habits people build while taking the medication. “The period of treatment is a window of opportunity for creating positive and healthy behaviour change and, by focusing on diet quality and physical activity, people can get the most out of their medication while also investing in their long-term health.” 

As the report stresses, regulating the food environment must remain a policy priority as GLP-1s are ‘not a silver bullet’.

Antony Yousefian, General Partner at The First Thirty, a VC company which invests in early-stage companies in the agri-food sector, echoes this, adding that pharmaceuticals alone won’t fix a food system that drives ill health in the first place. “That requires well-designed government regulation focused on prevention, alongside continued investment in treatment options for obesity.”