In Good Health: The obesity rate is falling. What do weight loss drugs have to do with it?

WAMU 88.5 | By Arfie Ghedi

Published October 9, 2024 at 8:22 AM EDT

This picture shows Ozempic medication boxes, an injectable antidiabetic drug, in a pharmacy.

For the first time in decades, obesity rates in the U.S. are not on the rise.

The adult obesity rate fell to about 40 percent in 2023, down from 41.9 percent in 2020, according to the latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from the CDC.

While the study doesn’t pinpoint one sole reason for the change, the timing coincides with the rise of a new class of drugs targeting diabetes and weight loss, like Ozempic and Wegovy.

As part of our series In Good Health, we discuss these new medications and the falling rate of obesity.

Arfie Ghedi