Leading scientists have warned that the booming use of weight-loss injections such as Wegovy and Ozempic risks distracting from the real causes of rising obesity rates.
A new position paper published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe argues that while GLP-1 weight-loss drugs represent a major breakthrough in treating obesity, they fail to tackle the underlying drivers of the epidemic.
Endorsed by more than 700 researchers within the OBEClust initiative, a Europe-wide obesity research collaboration, the paper says that prevention and treatment must go hand in hand—but warns they are not equal priorities.
It argues that far greater and more sustained investment into preventing obesity is needed to achieve long-term, population-wide health gains.
Obesity now affects more than one billion people worldwide and continues to rise across Europe, fuelled by unhealthy food environments, urban design that discourages physical activity, and widening social inequality.
In the UK, an estimated one in 50 adults are now using fat jabs, with demand surging since the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved Wegovy for NHS use in 2023.
But experts warn that drugs alone cannot reverse the trend.
‘Pharmacological treatments can improve health outcomes for individuals, but they have considerable disadvantages and do not remove the root causes of obesity,’ said Dr Jeroen Lakerveld of Amsterdam UMC, one of the paper’s lead authors.
Scientists have warned that the popularity of weight-loss injection risks distracting from the real causes of rising obesity rates
‘Without structural change, the inflow of new patients will remain high. Prevention is essential for achieving sustainable and equitable health improvements at the population level.’
The paper, backed by the OBEClust research collaboration, outlines several key policy priorities.
These include tighter regulation of food systems, promoting environments that encourage physical activity, tackling socioeconomic inequalities and better integrating prevention with treatment strategies.
It also warns of the economic risks of relying heavily on long-term drug treatment without addressing underlying causes, saying this could drive escalating costs for health systems.
While the authors stress that GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic are an important medical advance, they caution that they must not become a substitute for prevention.
Instead, they argue, the emergence of new treatments should reinforce—not replace —the case for tackling obesity at its source.
In adults, being overweight or obese is associated with life-limiting conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and at least 13 types of cancer.
Obesity also leads to increased mortality from all causes and severe outcomes for conditions like COVID-19.
The report comes just days after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved a higher-dose version of Wegovy.
The regulator authorised a 7.2mg dose of semaglutide earlier this year, potentially offering an additional treatment option for patients who do not respond sufficiently to existing doses.
Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, is expected to roll out updated injection devices in the UK in the coming months.
Experts say such developments could improve access and convenience—but stress they do not change the need to tackle the root causes of obesity.
