CenterHillAg said:
I'm skeptical of the study because you have a bunch of overweight kids that are given an appetite suppressant and begin losing weight immediately, thereby giving them and their parents motivation to try harder and lose significant weight/BMI. Meanwhile a control group probably took everything seriously initially, and when they saw little-to-no results, they lost motivation and mailed in the diet and lifestyle change effort. I couldn't find an explanation of all the methodology in the paper, I'd be curious to see what it says.
I've struggled with weight all my life, and have had only had significant success in the past 5 or so years. It took a true lifestyle change, exercise, and a focus on healthy eating I could sustain with a busy work schedule. I purposely avoided popular diets or exercise routines I can't maintain for the rest of my life. I wanted a true reset in how I live, it wasn't easy and took years. Hit walls and setbacks, but learned to mentally push through them. I can cook a healthy meal in about 15 mins after a 17 hr work day that costs $4, half the price of the fast food junk I used to get. Anybody can do the same with a real focus on changing. I know several people on wegovy, and while they have lost weight, they're in no way healthy or learning how to make lifestyle changes. They just eat smaller portions of junk. To me, this is just another band-aid that works until it doesn't, and the person is back to square 1, with no idea in how to cope other than get another pill.
Your concerns about the study actually make a compelling case for using this drug to jump start weight loss. When you are truly obese, losing weight can seem like an overwhelming, daunting task. And many people do give up because they don't see results.
People are motivated by success. Get people down 15-20 lbs, and they may be motivated to make the lifestyle changes necessary to continue losing weight and maintain it long-term, eventually without the drug.
But as another poster said, you have to concurrently train people to have better eating and exercise habits. I have a friend going through this now. She lost 100+ lbs years ago with a gastric sleeve. She recently put on another 15-20 lbs, and she's so terrified she's going to end up obese again that she went on Wegovy. And now she just doesn't eat. An eating disorder caused her to gain the wait, and now she's developing another eating disorder to lose it.
Food is a powerful drug. Telling an obese person to eat less and exercise more is like telling an alcoholic to stop drinking. Sure, there will be a few who have the willpower to do it on their own, but most will fail over and over and ultimately succumb to the health effects of their addiction.
As far as the side and/or long-term effects of the drug are concerned, they can't be measured in a vacuum and should be considered in comparison to the "side effects" and long term complications of being obese. Similar to how we look at gastric bypass surgery as a tool for weight loss. My same friend almost died after her surgery and was in the hospital for weeks, but I'm 100% certain she'd tell you it was worth the risk.
What I personally do have a problem with is this drug being used by the Kim Kardashians of the world to lose 10-15 lbs to fit in a dress that was custom made for someone else. I'm seeing this in my own circle of upper middle-class friends. People want to lose a few lbs and they are using these meds for purely vanity-related reasons. They are getting cheaper, "generic" versions from functional medicine doctors and compounding pharmacies, which is a whole other issue, since these drugs are still patent protected.
