One in five Britons would use a weight-loss drug if it was free on the NHS, according to polling that also shows one in seven have either taken a jab themselves or know someone who has.
But almost one in four people would not tell others if they were using them, suggesting the growing popularity of weight-loss jabs is accompanied by persistent stigma about them.
Drugs such as semaglutide, better known as Wegovy or Ozempic, are booming in popularity globally as fast-growing numbers of people turn to them to shed unwanted pounds.
The drugs, which belong to a group known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists – have been proved to aid weight loss, help type 2 diabetics manage their blood sugar levels and prevent heart attacks and strokes.
The polling firm Ipsos surveyed a representative sample of 2,161 UK adults aged 18-75 between 13 and 17 December about their attitudes to and experiences of weight-loss drugs.
Overall, 22% said they would be fairly or very likely to use such injections if they were provided by the NHS. However, many more – 63% – said they would not use them even then.
But far fewer people – just 8% – would take the drugs if they had to pay for them themselves, given they cost an average of £180-220 a month to buy privately.
One in seven (14%) of people have either already taken a drug such as Wegovy, Ozempic or Mounjaro themselves (5%) or know of friends or family (9%) who have done so.
Those findings seem to underline how quickly weight-loss jabs are starting to become socially acceptable in a country where 64% of adults are either overweight or obese.
But they remain taboo for a substantial minority. Asked if they would tell others if they were using the drugs, 53% said it was likely but 23% replied that they were unlikely to do so.
However, some medical experts fear the drugs, which can have risky side-effects, are increasingly seen as a quick-fix way of losing weight compared with improved diet or vigorous exercise. Growing numbers of people are getting semaglutide from a private doctor or online.
“I am gobsmacked that people are opting to use semaglutide willy-nilly. It is tragically already a recreational drug, influenced by A-listers who don’t give a monkey’s about disinformation,” said Tam Fry, the chair of the National Obesity Forum.
“Semaglutide is not, repeat not, for anyone who fancies losing a bit of weight and feels able to pay for it. It is a serious drug for a serious disease and not for some ‘celebrity’ who wants everyone to see her squeezed into a little black number.
“Everyone should persevere with their own weight loss by choosing to eat better food, eating less and exercising more,” Fry added.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) endorsed that advice. “These obesity drugs can greatly benefit those in real need. But we must recognise these drugs are not a replacement for a good diet, healthy lifestyle and exercise,” a spokesperson said.
Weight-loss drugs have only been approved in the UK for people who are dangerously overweight and have a secondary medical condition that is linked to their obesity.
If people who do not fit that criteria still acquire and use the drug, “on their own heads be it”, added Fry, citing the risks highlighted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The drugs regulator recently reminded health professionals that using weight-loss medications can lead to vomiting and diarrhoea, or someone being hospitalised with dehydration or less common but serious side-effects such as pancreatitis and gall bladder problems.
The public is quite evenly split on whether the NHS should pay for the jabs. Ipsos found that 34% believe it should but that slightly more – 38% – think it should not, and that those who want them should use their own funds, given their high cost.
When asked what action they were most likely to take to slim down in 2025, the largest proportions of people cited more regular exercise (46%), eating more healthily (42%), drinking more water (28%), and dieting or reducing the number of calories they consume (26%). Just 3% mentioned taking weight-loss injections.
Many people do not appreciate how much excess weight they are carrying, Ipsos’s findings also suggest. According to the Health Survey for England, 64% of adults are overweight or obese.
However, only half (50%) of respondents said they regarded themselves as slightly overweight (26%), overweight (18%) or obese (6%) – far less than the almost two-thirds who are too heavy.
The DHSC added that the NHS was trialling innovative approaches to treating obesity that involve using packages of community-based care and digital means to give patients GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, recently caused controversy when he proposed giving unemployed people the weight-loss jab Mounjaro as a way of helping them to get back into work.
