Why fat jabs ‘mean UK obesity rates may have peaked’

The growth of weight-loss jabs could see obesity rates decline this year, pharmacists predict.

More than 500,000 people in the UK are now taking weight-loss injections, with the majority coming from private pharmacies.

The most recent NHS obesity figures suggest rates are starting to plateau for the first time in two decades. This could be due to the rocketing use of medications including Mounjaro and Wegovy.

Simple Online Pharmacy, one of the UK’s biggest providers of the jabs, has reported a month-on-month growth of between ten and 40 per cent. Rebecca Moore, chief operating officer, said the UK was ‘starting to see [obesity] rates decline’.

She said: ‘The private sector is already reversing obesity at a rate of around 500,000 patients every six months. 

‘We estimate savings to the NHS in not paying for the treatment or clinical care amounts to over £1billion per year, not including the reduction in healthcare costs and savings to wider society this brings.’

Those taking the jabs can expect to lose up to 20 per cent of their body weight, if used alongside diet and exercise. Patient data shows the average starting BMI is 34.8.

From this, patients on average reversed obesity in about six months when on treatment. One in five patients that have reduced their weight have stopped requiring medication for other conditions, the company said.

More than 500,000 people in the UK are now taking weight-loss injections, with the majority coming from private pharmacies (file photo)

Two in three Britons are classed as overweight or obese with people now weighing about a stone more than 30 years ago.

Weight-related illness costs the economy £74billion a year, with people who are overweight at increased risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The NHS prescribes Wegovy, a higher-dose version of diabetes drug Ozempic, but is only available at specialist weight-loss clinics in parts of England. 

Mounjaro has been capped on the Health Service at 220,000 patients over the next three years, amid fears over cost and delivery capacity.

Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said she thought any reversal ‘unlikely to bear out in reality’.

She said obesity is ‘a chronic, relapsing condition that needs professional support as well as options such as weight-loss drugs, for long term success’, adding ‘it is essential we tackle the root causes of obesity, such as the flood of unhealthy food and drink that is constantly marketed’.

A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘We are acting to tackle obesity’s causes, shifting focus from treatment to prevention as part of our Ten-Year Health Plan.’