Overweight woman applying medicine injection (© Mauricio – stock.adobe.com)
WASHINGTON — Despite the celebrity status “miracle” weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have gained recently, it appears most Americans are not jumping at the chance to use them. A recent national survey found people strongly opposed using injectable weight loss drugs instead of making a diet change.
The survey by the Consult for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine included 2,205 adults who answered several questions related to weight loss. For example, when people read the statement, “If I wanted to lose weight, I would rather take an injectable weight-loss drug rather than make a diet change,” only 23% of Americans strongly agreed with that opinion. Meanwhile, 62% of survey respondents disagreed with the statement, and another 14% were uninterested because they did not want to lose weight. For those actively looking to shed extra weight, 73% still disagreed with using a weight loss injection.
“The new findings do not mean that Americans do not want to lose weight; rather, most would prefer to change their eating habits than inject a medication,” says Neal D. Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, in a media release.
When asked, “If a plant-based diet might cause significant weight loss, I would be interested in trying it, at least briefly,” two-thirds of survey respondents claimed they would be open to it. Among people who expressed interest in losing weight, 68% strongly agreed with the statement, while 32% strongly disagreed.
Research has shown a vegan diet is more effective for losing weight than the popular Mediterranean diet. Specifically, one study found a low-fat vegan diet was more effective than the Mediterranean diet in losing weight, improving body composition, insulin sensitivity, and lowering cholesterol.
Lifestyle changes like switching diets may also be more effective when it comes to not regaining weight — instead of using weight loss drugs and then going back to a normal diet. Weight loss drugs like Ozempic generally need people to stay on the drugs indefinitely to maintain the effects. However, another study published in the Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy found most patients end up discontinuing their use of these drugs at some point. In August, Prime Therapeutics reported less than half of the people were still using these weight loss drugs six months later. Less than one-third were still using them after one year.