Too many people are using weight loss jabs, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned. Mr Streeting said he was worried about people using injections for “recreational” purposes, when they are really only suitable for people with “serious obesity”.
It follows warnings that people who use fat jabs need to stay on them, potentially for life, because otherwise they are likely to put the weight back on again. Mr Streeting said: “We’ve seen two big stories in the last week on weight loss jabs that are really important for everyone to understand, not just people like me who is following the evidence and the debate closely. One is these are not a cure for obesity, and they’re not a vaccination against obesity.” He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Weight loss jabs are there for people who are struggling with serious obesity, not for people who just want to shed a few pounds before their summer holiday.
“And I worry about the way in which we hear about recreational use. I always worry about obesity debate in the context of positive body image and eating disorders. We’ve got to take that seriously. And so this is a nuanced debate.”
A major study found people on fat loss medication put all the weight back on much faster than traditional dieters.
Researchers from the University of Oxford discovered that people on drugs including semaglutide (Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) lose weight during treatment but, on average, regain it within 20 months of stopping the jabs.
Improvements to blood sugar levels, cholesterol and blood pressure are also lost when people stop the drugs, with patients ending up back where they were at the start of their diet journey.
In contrast, people who are supported to lose weight through healthier diets and exercise keep the weight off for far longer – just under four years – though they do, on average, also regain it eventually.
The study comes as separate research from University College London (UCL) and the University of Cambridge found that people prescribed the new generation of weight loss drugs may be vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies and muscle loss.
At present, Wegovy can only be prescribed on the NHS for a maximum of two years. There is no limit on Mounjaro.
The vast majority of people taking Wegovy and Mounjaro pay privately owing to restrictions on who can access the medicines via the NHS.
However, studies suggest half of people come off their weight loss medication, with reasons including no longer being able to afford jabs privately, side-effects or because they have reached a goal weight.
The Oxford research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), included 37 studies involving more than 9,000 people.
They had an average treatment time of 10 months, and average follow-up of eight months.
People on any type of weight loss medication lost an average of 8.3kg during treatment, but regained 4.8kg within the first year and were back to their original weight within 1.7 years of stopping the drugs.
Those specifically on Wegovy and Mounjaro lost just under 15kg but regained 10kg within the first year of stopping treatment.
They regained all their weight within 1.5 years, according to projections in the study based on one year of data.
All cardiometabolic markers – such as blood glucose and cholesterol – also return to baseline 1.4 years after stopping medication.
Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population health at the University of Oxford and adviser to ministers and the NHS on obesity, said: “In summary, what we’ve shown in this particular piece of analysis is that weight regain after medication is common and is rapid.”