The WHO learned to love anti-obesity' jabs in 2025. I don't fully agree, but I get it | Devi Sridhar

"If there has been a hot topic in health in 2025, it's definitely been GLP-1s, colloquially referred to as anti-obesity jabs. These medications, taken weekly as an injection into the abdomen, result in significant weight loss and, despite being developed to manage type 2 diabetes in those with metabolic disorders, have become mainstream in many countries as a treatment for obesity."

"Clinicians rave about the health outcomes in patients taking the medication, with study after study emerging on the health benefits of the associated weight loss in those who are obese. Celebrity endorsements, online sales and off-label use have seen them widely used by people of all ages and sizes who want to drop weight. For the public health community, it's an odd moment."

"For years, we've advocated for government action on obesity not through new drugs, but by taking nutrition and food systems seriously. We've highlighted the need for government action on making nutritious food affordable, regulating ultra-processed foods, bringing in sugar taxes and banning advertising of unhealthy products to young people, alongside encouraging an increase in physical activity. The solutions are simple: get people to eat more nutritious food and move. The challenge has been implementation, especially in deprived areas."

GLP-1 medications, administered weekly by abdominal injection, produce significant weight loss and were developed to manage type 2 diabetes in people with metabolic disorders. These drugs have become mainstream obesity treatments in many countries, accompanied by favorable clinical outcomes and numerous studies showing health benefits from weight loss. Celebrity endorsements, online sales, and off-label use have expanded uptake across ages and body sizes. Public health strategies have long prioritized food-system reforms, nutritious food affordability, regulation of ultra-processed foods, sugar taxes, advertising bans to young people, and increased physical activity. Implementation of these measures has been difficult in deprived areas, while widespread GLP-1 use has generated massive pharmaceutical profits and signalled a perceived surrender to systemic food-industry problems.

Read at www.theguardian.com