Economics professor Adam Biener noted a shift in advertisements marketing appetite suppressants more towards treating weight loss. (Graphic by Miley Hamilton ’27)
As social media continues to redefine what the ideal body type is, GLP-1 medications — appetite suppressants — have emerged as a controversial shortcut towards weight loss. Lafayette College professors weighed in on the rise of weight loss drugs and their effect on society’s perception of what constitutes an optimal body.
Retired psychology professor Susan Basow, who has researched body dissatisfaction and societal pressures, said that society is now seeing a resurgence of extremely thin body ideals for women and aggressive muscularity for men, physiques naturally attainable by only a minority of people.
Linking these changes in beauty standards to the increase in usage of GLP-1 drugs, Basow described the medication as a “wonder drug” for people with serious metabolic disorders, like diabetes. Drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy mimic the naturally occurring GLP-1 hormone, which regulates appetite and slows digestion.
Before the rise of GLP-1s, there was a movement for body acceptance with a higher frequency of models of different sizes, according to Basow.
“We don’t see that anymore,” she said. “We see hyper-thin models. We see an obsession about appearance.”
Basow attributed the shift to social media’s constant narrowing of the definition of the “ideal body.” She added that she expects beauty standards to become “stricter and more unnatural,” leading to an increase in cosmetic surgeries and weight-loss medications.
The widespread use of these drugs for aesthetic purposes has distorted people’s sense of self and worsened people’s self-esteem, according to Basow. This unrealistic expectation creates insecurities, especially among young people who may become “desperate for social approval,” Basow said.
One reason for the increase in GLP-1 use may be attributed to a change in the drugs’ advertising, according to economics professor Adam Biener, who previously researched healthcare policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He noted a shift in advertisements that market the drug more for treating weight loss rather than diabetes.
Economics professor Susan Averett, who has previously researched gender and health economics, said that an increase in social media posts featuring weight-loss transformations has reinforced societal expectations for a thinner body. She added that the output of new weight-loss medications will continue to “ramp up as companies reach for the growing industry of GLP-1s.”
Beiner warned that the growing industry has led to a rise in usage of weight-loss drugs that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including supplements or vitamins with microdoses of GLP-1s.
“If they’re buying something off the internet, they really have to do due diligence to know that that is the real product coming from a manufacturer or something they believe is a legitimate equivalent,” Biener said.
Despite his concern, Biener said he believes medical weight loss will be “increasingly affordable and accessible.”
“This has been at least a decade or two in the making,” he said.