UK obesity rates may start dropping “significantly” this year because of weight loss jabs, according to one of the biggest online sellers of the medications.
The country may have reached peak obesity thanks to a projected decline in cases, claimed Simple Online Pharmacy, which has access to wholesale figures.
The company – which has supplied the drugs to 200,000 patients who have lost 600 tonnes in total – linked the prediction to the half a million people in the UK currently taking either Mounjaro or Wegovy who are set to lose 15 to 20 per cent of their weight within months.
Chief operating officer Rebecca Moore told Sky News: “Our projections are that around a million people will reverse their obesity in a year. We should be at the point now, we believe, where we're starting to see rates decline. We would not be surprised if by the end of this year we've seen a really significant decline in obesity.”
Demand for the jabs continues to increase by 10 to 40 per cent each month, said Simple Online Pharmacy, which claims to be supplying 400 people an hour.
Ms Moore continued: “The narrative has really shifted in the last few months. People are recognising that obesity is a lifelong chronic condition. They're recognising that this medication is a once-in-a-generation revolutionary technology. People are much more open to it and I expect that next year there will be another huge surge in growth.”
Government figures from last May show 64 per cent of adults in England were estimated to be overweight or obese in 2022 to 2023, compared to 61.2 per cent in 2015 to 2016, while 26.2 per cent were obese, compared to 22.6 per cent.
However, around 95 per cent of those using the drugs are having to buy it privately for around £150 per month, with access on the NHS reported to be limited.
A Department of Health spokesperson told Sky News that existing NHS budgets had to fund new drugs recommended by NICE, adding: "We are also acting to tackle [obesity's] causes, shifting our focus from treatment to prevention as part of our 10 Year Health Plan."
