From \u201cOzempic face\u201d to the latest celebrity confession, there\u2019s no shortage of news about GLP-1s, which has become a catchall term for injectable diabetes and weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound.<\/p>\n
Journalists (including yours truly) have covered<\/a> the medications\u2019 potential to curb other addictions<\/a>, their peril in relationships<\/a>, their controversial use among adolescents<\/a>, their impact on the fashion and food industries<\/a>, their infiltration in sports<\/a> and more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But aside from a Guardian story<\/a> and a more recent one in Elle<\/a>, there\u2019s not a lot of discussion in the mainstream media about GLP-1s\u2019 influence on people who have, are in recovery from or are susceptible to eating disorders.\u00a0<\/p>\n As someone who\u2019s touched on the complicated issue in an American Psychological Association article<\/a> (and who briefly dealt with an eating disorder<\/a> herself), I think there\u2019s room for other journalists to cover this intersection. After all, while the stereotype of someone with such a disorder is still a thin white girl, in reality, the overlap between people with obesity and people with eating disorders is significant<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n For some of them, drugs like Wegovy might be helpful: By quieting \u201cfood noise\u201d and reducing appetite, they could support someone with binge eating disorder, for example, override the instinct to compulsively overeat, and develop healthier behaviors along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n For others with and without obesity, the meds could fuel disordered eating. As clinical psychologist Sera Lavelle<\/a>, Ph.D., told me for the APA story, \u201cit\u2019s people with anorexia, people with bulimia who just want to cut off their appetite. And with medical \u201cspas\u201d and direct-to-consumer services offering GLP-1s in just a few clicks, it\u2019s easy for them to get in the wrong hands.<\/p>\n To advance this conversation, I moderated a panel<\/a> in New York for local AHCJ members last month. The event featured Lavelle, who specializes in hypnosis and integrative therapies; clinical psychologist Erin Parks<\/a>, Ph.D., cofounder of the eating disorder platform Equip<\/a>; and Rocio Salas-Whalen<\/a>, M.D., a physician who specializes in obesity medicine and endocrinology.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are some of the key takeaways for writers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Seek a range of expert sources\u00a0<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re not explicitly writing about eating disorders, coverage of GLP-1s should include a variety of expert voices to reflect the diversity of experiences and opinions across (and even within) fields.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the panel, a divide between the psychologists and the doctor became clear. The mental health professionals worried about GLP-1s\u2019 abuse among people vulnerable to eating disorders, and cautioned that their widespread use will continue to glamorize thinness while ignoring the reality that healthy bodies come in a variety of shapes and sizes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the consequences are going to be as dire as the opioid epidemic, but I do feel like we\u2019re seeing some parallels in medicine,\u201d Parks said.<\/p>\n Salas-Whalen, by contrast, was enthusiastic about GLP-1s, and noted that people with anorexia are a minority of the population. And while the psychologists tended to see the drugs as sometimes appropriate for short-term use to help patients establish healthier habits, the doctor emphasized their lifelong intention.<\/p>\n \u201cObesity is a chronic disease \u2014 it\u2019s not cured. It\u2019s like type 2 diabetes: We control it, but we don\u2019t cure it,\u201d said Salas-Whalen, author of \u201cWeightless: A doctor\u2019s guide to GLP-1 medications, sustainable weight loss and the health you deserve.\u201d \u201cThese drugs were developed for chronic, long-term use.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither perspective should have been entirely surprising given the professionals\u2019 patient populations \u2014 those struggling with eating disorders or emotional eating versus those seeking weight loss \u2014 but the live dialogue was a good reminder that, in this case at least, one expert\u2019s voice is one expert\u2019s voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Use your platform to promote better regulation\u00a0<\/p>\n Lavelle and Parks urged journalists to cover how people with or at risk for eating disorders are accessing GLP-1s through digital platforms that make it easy to lie about your weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked if doing so might unintentionally \u201cteach\u201d someone vulnerable how to go deeper into their disorder, Parks said she wasn\u2019t too concerned \u2014 so long as reporters avoid triggering details like how much a person weighed at their thinnest. \u201cIf people want to find the information, they\u2019re going to find it,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The important thing is to raise awareness of GLP-1s\u2019 misuse, and hold the companies and system accountable \u2014 without shaming or blaming the people taking the meds themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n Be aware of divergent perspectives around \u2018food noise\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Medications like Ozempic have gotten a lot of attention for reducing or eliminating \u201cfood noise,\u201d<\/a> or constant internal chatter about food. While that side effect is often framed as a positive, eating disorder specialists offer more nuance.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have food noise and you\u2019re always obsessing, maybe you need to eat; you\u2019re hungry,\u201d Charlotte Markey, Ph.D<\/a>., of Rutgers University, told me for the APA story. \u201cFood noise is very real for a lot of people, but is a pharmacological solution the best solution for that?\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n Likewise, Lavelle said she was frustrated by a comment from Oprah, who has publicly talked about taking Ozempic<\/a>. \u201cShe said, \u2018For the first time in my life, I know how thin people must think \u2014 they just don\u2019t even think about food,\u2019\u201d Lavelle, cofounder of the Bea Better Eating<\/a> app, recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n But her patients with anorexia are often driven to tears over their obsessive food-related thoughts. \u201cIt\u2019s actually normal to think about food,\u201d she added. \u201cWe need to learn to tolerate thinking about food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Consider psychological implications of weight loss\u00a0<\/p>\n Many people taking GLP-1s find their mental health improves along with their physical health. But journalists should also consider highlighting the psychological challenges significant weight loss can surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll of a sudden, you lose the weight and then you\u2019re getting more attention, people are looking at your body more. It is really scary for people,\u201d Lavelle said. \u201cI\u2019ve had people who lose weight and put it right back on because they\u2019re like, \u2018I feel so unsafe. I feel small. I feel vulnerable.\u2019 It\u2019s so related to trauma.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fear of weight regain is another psychological\u00a0 issue Salas-Whalen sees. \u201cFor the majority, GLP-1s have a good, positive impact,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we still don\u2019t have the tools to guide a patient once they reach their weight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Emphasize health, not weight\u00a0<\/p>\n Panelists agreed that reporters should avoid superficial terms like \u201cthe skinny jab\u201d and focus on the meds\u2019 medical indications and effects. After all, someone who\u2019s over 300 pounds could experience improved health markers after losing 50 pounds, but still be perceived as overweight or obese.\u00a0<\/p>\n That said, if someone who qualifies for the drug is motivated by appearance, reporters and health care professionals alike shouldn\u2019t judge. \u201cIt\u2019s hard being fat in our society. There\u2019s a lot of reasons to want to be a different size \u2014 health reasons, employment reasons, the ease with which you can live here,\u201d Parks said. Like most clinicians, she added, \u201cI believe in bodily autonomy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From \u201cOzempic face\u201d to the latest celebrity confession, there\u2019s no shortage of news about GLP-1s, which has become…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[120483,3436,97,252,253,249,987,8230],"class_list":{"0":"post-211090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-eating-disorder","9":"tag-glp-1","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-health-care","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-ozempic","14":"tag-semaglutide","15":"tag-wegovy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}