Olympics threaten growing ‘positive’ movement as Americans are told to embrace the rate of inclusion

• Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are being used for weight loss.
• Critics argue that it has influenced body positivity by providing an easy way to shed weight.

Ozympic is threatening the ‘body positivity’ movement because Americans who have been told to accept their plus size have found an easy way to get thinner, experts warn.

The drug, originally developed for people with diabetes, is made from a compound called semaglutide. Ozempic and alternatives like Wegovy are part of a class of drugs called GLP-1 RAs, which help people produce insulin and lower their blood sugar.

The drugs also slow the movement of food through the stomach, reducing appetite — and leading people to see them as an easy way to drop pounds.

“With Ozympic, obesity can be instantly (if very expensively) corrected,” Raven Smith wrote for Vogue in March.

Larger people can quickly grow to a socially acceptable size. Ozympic is a miracle drug, a cure for the obesity we’ve so negligently forced ourselves to accept.’

The body positivity movement began in 1969 when an engineer named Bill Fabre created the National Association to Help Americans, today known as the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.

In the 21st century, body positivity has been embraced by corporations looking to market to a wider audience. Brands like Dove ran ads featuring women of different sizes, while others embraced the tagline ‘all bodies are beautiful’.

But following the advent of weight loss drugs, the tone seems to be changing. Weight loss services like Noom have embraced subscription-based nutrition apps.

And while the app is built around behavioral changes and mental health, it appears to be taking shortcuts. It started last year Nom Med prescribes GLP-1 drugs as patients fall within a certain BMI range and meet other criteria.

Similarly, after purchasing a telehealth company order, Weight Watchers came out with WW Clinic, an online portal that facilitates the prescription of GLP-1 drugs.

The data shows that demand for these drugs has increased, and the numbers are staggering: From 2021 to 2022, prescriptions increased by 130 percent in Atlanta, 351 percent in Seattle and 481 percent in Cleveland, according to an analysis by Trillion Health.

GLP-1 drugs are also popularly accepted. When Oprah Winfrey learned about taking weight loss pills, she said she sees them as a ‘gift’ to people in December.

‘It’s a relief to have a medically approved prescription in my life to help me manage my weight and stay healthy … and it’s not something to hide behind and make fun of again,’ she said. ‘I am completely done with humiliation from other people and especially from myself.’

But the shame goes both ways—even for people who are clear about their decision to take the drug. Gabi Maynard, famous for the body positive movement, has announced that she takes Ozempic to simply ‘skin’.

She was furious and immediately deleted the video – but that didn’t stop netizens from leaving comments on subsequent posts, including one that read: ‘How’s Ozempic?’

Comedian Claudia O’Shea was also candid about her drug use. Oshri posted a Tik Tok dance around a skeleton outfit after one user commented that she was an ‘Ozempic skeleton’.

Constance Grady, a journalist featured on News Nation, says body positivity simply doesn’t make sense for many companies’ bottom lines.

“The way many corporations and brands have paid lip service to body positivity has turned out to be really shallow and we’ve seen them turn their backs on the Olympics,” she said.

At runway shows, Grady explained, plus-size runway models will drop from a high of 5 percent in 2022 to 0.6 percent in 2023.

I think what we’re seeing is Ozympic giving people a chance to embrace small bodies and corporations. Until now,” she continued.

The American Association of Health-System Pharmacists issued a notice earlier this month about the shortage of Ozempic and Wegovi.

Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of both drugs, has taken steps to increase production capacity, but the supply is expected to meet patient demand for certain dosage strengths.

The FDA approved Ozempic in 2017 as a treatment for type 2 diabetes along with diet and exercise. It is not approved for acute weight management but is frequently prescribed off-label.

Wegovi, on the other hand, is clearly approved for people with severe obesity.

GLP-1 drugs are also prescribed for people with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormone imbalance. Many people with PCOS have insulin resistance, which affects metabolism and makes people struggle to gain or lose weight.

Ozympic has not been approved by the FDA to treat the condition, but that hasn’t stopped people from taking it and using it as a miracle cure.

Dr. Shauna Levy, assistant professor of surgery at Tulane University Medical Center, argues that the body positive movement is experiencing a shift because Ozympic offers an easy way to lose weight.

‘I think this movement confuses people in different ways because there was an assumption that just because big is beautiful, it’s healthy,’ she told News Nation.

“And I think it has kept people from going to the doctor because well people accept me now that I don’t need to treat this disease.”