Half of Americans interested in weight loss medication: Poll
- Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have gained popularity
- Poll: 24% ‘very interested’ in taking a safe weight loss treatment
- Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke and diabetes
FILE – This Tuesday, April 3, 2018 file photo shows a closeup of a beam scale in New York. The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers, Thursday, June 1, 2023, not to use off-brand versions of the popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy sold online because they might not contain the same ingredients as the prescription products and may not be safe or effective. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)
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(NewsNation) — More than half of Americans would be interested in trying a “safe and effective” weight loss medication, a new poll found.
The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asked, “If a medication proved to be a safe and effective weight loss treatment, how interested, if at all, would you be in taking such a medication?”
Twenty-four percent of respondents said they would be “very interested,” and 31% were “somewhat interested.” Twenty-two percent of respondents said they are “not at all interested.”
According to Ipsos, interest in weight loss medication is slightly higher in women at 58% than men at 50%. The poll comes as weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have gained popularity.
The majority, 91% of those polled, said they think obesity is a major health problem in the U.S.
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases reports that more than two in five adults in the U.S. have obesity, with nearly one in three adults labeled as overweight.
Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was nearly $173 billion in 2019.