U-Turn over Caerketton Hill

The Radical Reversal in Attitudes About Obesity Medicines

On Friday, the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research documented a remarkable reversal in attitudes about obesity medicines. Roughly half of the public believes “it’s a good idea” to use obesity medicines for obesity or weight-related health conditions. Likewise, most Americans believe Medicare and Medicaid should cover the use of these drugs. Only about 20% of the public says any of this would be a bad idea.

Of course, support for this goes down pretty fast for use of these medicines for people who have neither obesity nor a weight-related health condition. Opinions are split on these medicines for teens with obesity. Favorable sentiment is at 35% while 37% say “it’s a bad idea.”

A Radical Shift

Without a doubt, these findings represent a radical shift in attitudes about obesity medicines from prevailing attitudes of the last decade. In 2013, after the launch of a few new obesity medicines, Andrew Pollack wrote in the New York Times:

“Americans spend tens of billions of dollars each year to lose weight — gym memberships, Weight Watchers and other programs, operations, nutritional supplements and whatever the latest diet fad might be.

“But the first new prescription weight-loss drug to reach the market in 13 years is having a hard time winning even a tiny slice of that huge market, despite an apparent need.”

Back then, Consumer Reports was telling people “you should skip weight loss drugs.” Barely a quarter of primary care physicians agreed with regular use of obesity medicines.

So, yes, we are witnessing a radical shift in public attitudes about obesity medicines. No doubt it has something to do with dramatic gains in effectiveness and proof that their judicious use can extend a person’s life.

Click here and here for reports on this new opinion research.

U-Turn over Caerketton Hill, photograph by Richard Webb, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

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February 2, 2025

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