The Ozempidemic: The weight of losing weight in society

While social media was once a platform to share deep thoughts, aesthetic moments, or funny videos, it is now a forum for promoting unhealthy weight-loss practices among young adults and teenagers, contributing to the rise of so-called “diet culture.” Whether it is through healthier diets or drug use, everyone seems to be losing weight.  But as more people try to do this, pharmaceutical companies are trying to create a silver lining by adding other medical benefits to their medications. However, these silver linings only create a more complicated relationship between health and appearance/weight. 

A key factor in the rise of so-called “diet culture” is the public’s reaction to perceived changes in celebrities’ appearance. An example of this lies within the wide-ranging commentary made about Grande’s body that reveal just how normalized the judging of others’ appearances has become. 

The constant comments of both disapproval and praise create a cloud of confusion for Ariana’s young and impressionable fans.  The multitude of comments and attention being directed towards how Ariana looks is the issue, rather than what the comments actually say. The non-stop analysis on someone’s body only promotes the idea that there is a specific body type that people should conform to, in order to be liked in society. 

  When you open apps such as TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, you are often met with a stream of “What I eat in a day” videos, where an influencer often flaunts a dangerously low calorie intake in order to achieve a skinnier body type. A teenager without much knowledge of nutrition might try to replicate this lifestyle because they believe that eating less will help them in order to achieve the same appearance. When teenagers do this, however, they disregard the fact that, driven by a desire for more likes and views, the influencer is probably showing a life online that is very different from their real one. 

Drug manufacturers then try to take advantage of this weight loss trend by advertising the same side effects to their medications. For instance, Ozempic, a medication for type 2 diabetes, has been approved for weight loss and Zepbound, another weight loss medication, was approved for treating sleep apnea in adults with obesity. These drugs have made real positive impacts in people’s lives, making their conditions less intense and more manageable. 

Through adding weight loss as a side effect of their drugs, companies convey the message that losing weight is a vital step in being well. In conveying this message, this idea is emphasized when someone takes the medication for its original purpose but loses weight as a side effect- someone might view weight loss as the more important purpose of the treatment, instead of recognizing the health condition being treated. Although these treatments can provide real benefits for people who actually need them, it also stresses the popularity and normalization of dramatic weight loss by making a smaller body seem healthier. The problem of the additional side effects are when the rise of diet culture in social media convinces people that they need the drugs as well, but for aesthetic purposes instead of health. When people start relying on medications without prescriptions, there are often various adverse side effects that can pose serious health risks. 

The problem isn’t in social media or the weight loss side effects of medications, it is in how the idea of losing weight is presented to younger audiences. A teenager scrolling on social media shouldn’t have to determine whether or not an influencer’s body is healthy, or if a celebrity’s appearance is the best look to replicate.  Similarly, medications should be used for the diseases they were originally designed to treat, rather as a tool to lose weight. In order to prevent the stigma of making weight loss necessary to be healthy, companies should address how overall well-being isn’t determined by one’s body shape, but other factors as well. While some might have a point in arguing that many parts of social media actually promote body positivity and that supporting healthier choices could be an upside of posting the “What I eat in a day” videos, the videos turn into more of a risk to your health when they start promoting restrictive diets or unadvised use of medications. The end result of following the advice the videos suggest could have even more damage on your body than the supposed problem. Therefore, being truly healthy is when you stop finding parts of your body you have to change, not when you fix a part of yourself that social media and diet culture has deemed a problem.