Can Novo, Lilly take credit for U.S. obesity rate decline?

A recent CDC report indicated that the U.S. obesity rates may have dropped after over a decade-long rise last year, a finding likely to highlight the role played by the new weight loss drugs from Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) in containing one of the severe healthcare issues Americans face.

According to the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults has reached 40.3% as of August 2023, implying a drop of nearly two percentage points from 2020.

The survey, conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, estimated the U.S. adult obesity rate at 30% in 2000. Its latest findings mark 2023 as the year the rate has dropped for the first time in more than a decade, according to CBS News.

While the difference between its most recent surveys in 2020 and 2023 was too small to be counted as a statistically significant drop, the new GLP-1 drugs, semaglutide, and tirzepatide, from Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY), launched in the U.S. during that time.

The highly popular injectables were initially approved for type 2 diabetes in the U.S., and their anti-obesity versions received regulatory clearance for weight loss in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

The survey itself indicates that the decline in obesity was sharpest among college graduates, a group most likely to use GLP-1s, The Financial Times reported, citing a data analysis. Even public data suggest a significant uptake of GLP-1s among Americans.

A survey conducted by the health research organization KFF in April and May indicated that one in eight U.S. adults have tried GLP-1 agonists at some point in their lifetime.