People who stop taking weight-loss jabs such as Ozempic and Wegovy are at risk of regaining all the weight they lost within 18 months, according to a landmark study led by the University of Oxford.
The analysis, published in the BMJ, examined 37 studies involving 9,341 participants. It found that after stopping medication, weight returned at an average rate of 0.4kg per month, with participants returning to their original weight within 1.7 years. The rate of weight regain was almost four times faster than that seen with behavioural programmes, regardless of how much weight was lost during treatment.
The study also revealed that the benefits of the drugs on cardio-metabolic health markers, such as blood pressure and cholesterol, reversed within 1.4 years of stopping treatment. Dr Sam West of Oxford said: “This isn’t a failing of the medicines – it reflects the nature of obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition.”
Dr Faye Riley of Diabetes UK commented: “This research reinforces that they are not a quick fix. They need to be prescribed appropriately, with tailored wraparound support.” Katharine Jenner of the Obesity Health Alliance added that weight regain “reflects the reality of living in a food environment that continually pushes people towards unhealthy options.”
An NHS spokesperson said: “These new treatments are an important new tool for supporting weight loss, but they’re not a magic fix and must be paired with behavioural and lifestyle wraparound support.” Wegovy can be prescribed on the NHS for up to two years, while Mounjaro has no prescription time limit.
