In the last few months, the administration of former US President Donald Trump reached agreements with pharmaceutical companies to reduce the prices of weight-loss drugs (Ozempic and Wegovy).
As a result, the drugs better known as GLP-1 receptor agonists could become more widely available across the U.S., where about a quarter to two-fifths of adults over the age of 20 are obese. Here are six key facts about obesity, weight loss in America, and Americans’ attitudes toward weight loss drugs, drawn from surveys by the Pew Research Center and other relevant sources.
Around 40% of Americans ages 20 and older are considered obese, and nearly 10% are severely obese.
Body mass index (BMI) data from 2021-2023 show that nearly 10% of American adults are severely obese. These are the latest age-adjusted estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The obesity rate in the US has been on the rise in recent decades. During the survey period 1988-199, 22,9% of adults aged 20 or over were obese, while 2.8% were in the severe obesity category.
It is interesting that between 2017-2018 and 2021-2023, the proportion of adults considered obese decreased by about 2 percentage points, the first time the rate of decline exceeded 1 percentage point between consecutive survey periods.
About two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) said in a February 2024 Pew Research Center survey that willpower alone is usually not enough for most people to lose weight and keep it off
Another 34% said willpower alone is usually enough. Women were significantly more likely than men to believe that willpower alone was not enough (71% of women compared to 59% of men).
The older part of the population also expresses this attitude more often than the younger ones, although across all age groups, the general conclusion is that willpower alone is not enough to control body weight.
The same survey examined how Americans perceive the influence of environmental and lifestyle factors on body weight. The majority of respondents believe that diet (57%) and physical activity (43%) greatly influence weight, while more than a fifth state that stress, genetics, and access to stores also significantly influence weight.
About half (53%) of Americans say they hear or read about Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs extremely or very often, as of early 2025.
Another 27% of responders say that they occasionally hear or read about weight loss drugs, while 19% claim that they rarely or never do so. Women are more likely than men to state that they learn about these drugs very often or often (59% vs. 47%), and this trend is especially pronounced among women over 50 years old.
Americans tend to see these drugs as good weight loss options for people with certain health conditions, but not for other people who just want to lose weight.
Among respondents who had heard of Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs in February 2024, 53% considered them appropriate for weight loss in patients diagnosed with obesity or weight-related health problems. Only 12% felt that these drugs are a good option for those who want to lose weight and do not have weight-related health problems. On the other hand, 62% of respondents believe that these drugs are not a good option, while 26% were undecided.
Sales of GLP-1s have exploded in recent years.
Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk, which is behind the drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, generated $31.1 billion in revenue from these three products in 2024, a significant increase from $11.9 billion in 2022. These drugs accounted for as much as 70% of the company’s total revenue that year.
The drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, produced by the American company Eli Lilly, recorded similar growth. After Mounjaro was officially approved in mid-2022, worldwide revenue from this drug totaled $5.2 billion in 2023, rising to $11.5 billion in 2024. Zepbound, approved in late 2023, will generate $4.9 billion, accounting for about 37% of Eli Lilly’s total revenue in 2024.
The biggest market for slimming drugs is still North America. In 2024, almost 70% of all Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus sales were in the US, while 84% of Mounjaro and Zepbound sales were also in the US.
Thirteen states cover GLP-1s for obesity treatment under Medicaid, according to a January 2026 report from KFF, a nonpartisan research organization focused on health policy.
Another seven states cover one or more weight-loss drugs but do not include GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy. The rising cost of these drugs has led some states to limit eligibility for coverage or eliminate coverage altogether.
For example, California, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina stopped covering GLP-1 weight loss drugs as of Jan. 1, while North Carolina temporarily suspended coverage last fall due to a lack of funding.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), the number of prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs through Medicaid increased from 1.3 million in 2019 to 8.4 million in 2024, while total Medicaid spending on these drugs jumped from nearly $1 billion to $8.6 billion over the same period.
