Severe obesity in the U.S. on the rise, but weight loss drugs in short supply

Slightly less obese Canada also experiencing shortages in medications

Heading into a gluttonous time of year in the U.S. with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas on deck, it might be a bad time for Americans to find out their obesity rates continue to climb.

Based on a two-year survey of roughly 6,000 people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s latest report on the prevalence of obesity puts the rate at about 40 per cent, slightly higher in women than in men, with more older people considered obese than young. The rate of severe obesity — defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more — clocked just below 10 per cent; however, the data also shows the age-adjusted prevalence of severe obesity over 10 years increased by two per cent.

By comparison, the most recent Canadian Community Health Survey, conducted in 2022, sets the obesity rate for Canadians 18 and older at 30 per cent, about the same across men and women. Twenty years prior, Statistics Canada says the rate was closer to 21 per cent.

But as obesity rates climb, a new and highly effective weight control tool could be in shorter supply.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that some patients taking drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound — along with Ozempic and Mounjaro, also used for weight loss, though tailored to diabetics — have been navigating a world in which the drugs are in higher demand and harder to get.

The medications, which mimic a hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar levels and suppressing appetite, are drugs that users will need to take forever. Stop taking them and the weight comes back.