Researchers from Florida State University and collaborating institutions interviewed 34 adults aged 21 to 73 who were currently taking, or had previously taken, GLP-1 medications. The small study was qualitative in nature and designed to explore deep personal experiences rather than represent a statistically generalizable sample of all GLP-1 users.<\/p>\n
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Participants included people using the drugs primarily for weight loss<\/a> as well as those taking them for conditions such as diabetes<\/a>, prediabetes, sleep apnea and hormonal disorders. <\/p>\n The researchers found that many participants carefully assessed the attitudes of people around them before deciding whether to disclose their medication use. <\/p>\n Some chose to keep it secret altogether after hearing friends or relatives criticize others who used GLP-1 drugs. <\/p>\n One participant recalled a close friend describing GLP-1 users as people who were “too lazy to work out or change habits” and who had taken “the easy way out.” <\/p>\n Hearing those comments convinced her not to reveal that she was taking the medication herself. <\/p>\n Braidyn Lazenby, an assistant professor at FSU’s College of Communication & Information and the lead author of the study, told Newsweek the most-surprising finding was that participants often reinforced the very stigma they were trying to push back against. <\/p>\n “We have known for a while that stigma related to GLP-1 medications often centers around the idea of \u2018taking the easy way out\u2019 or \u2018cheating\u2019 weight loss, and participants would acknowledge that as well,” Lazenby said. <\/p>\n “However, participants would then report combating GLP-1 stigma by emphasizing the effort they would engage in while taking the medication or sometimes categorize GLP-1 users into groups<\/a>, where there were people who were taking GLP-1 medications \u2018the right way\u2019 and others who were taking it \u2018the wrong way,\u2019” she said. <\/p>\n Lazenby also argued that public conversations around GLP-1 medications frequently overlook the nuances behind why people choose to take them. <\/p>\n “It’s easy to latch on to a \u2018hot take\u2019 or bold statement about GLP-1 medications that you see online, but reducing the stigma around GLP-1 use includes considering all of the different reasons why someone might choose to take a GLP-1 medication,” she explained. “These conversations and stigma are less about the medication itself and more about the broader stigma surrounding body shape and size<\/a>.” <\/p>\n Another participant from the study described overhearing negative remarks about a woman who had lost a significant amount of weight, with the implication that her success was somehow less deserving because she was believed to be taking Ozempic. <\/p>\n Many participants also reported internal struggles. Some said they felt guilty about wanting to lose weight at all, even when they were pleased with the results. <\/p>\n Others described becoming more confident and kinder to themselves after starting treatment, while also recognizing how societal attitudes about body size had shaped their self-image. <\/p>\n To counter criticism, participants frequently emphasized the effort involved in their health journeys. <\/p>\n Rather than presenting GLP-1 medications as a quick fix, they described them as tools that worked alongside healthy eating, exercise and long-term lifestyle changes. <\/p>\n “They call us cheaters,” one participant told researchers, before explaining that she still carefully managed her diet, exercised and used the medication to help control binge eating. <\/p>\n Dr. Jessica Duncan, medical director at Iv\u00edm Health and a board-certified obesity medicine physician, told Newsweek that about half of her patients are open about using GLP-1 medications, while the other half aren\u2019t. <\/p>\n “The study separates weight loss from ‘strictly medical purposes,’ as if those are two different things,” she said. “That’s the whole problem. Obesity is a medical condition. Treating it is a medical purpose.” <\/p>\n While Duncan said patients should never feel pressured to disclose any medication they take, she worries about the impact of negative attitudes toward GLP-1 use. <\/p>\n “If someone is keeping it private and also hearing the people closest to them mock others for using these drugs, it’s not a stretch to think they start to internalize it,” she said. “That the way they’ve chosen to treat a disease is somehow wrong, or something to be ashamed of.” <\/p>\n Lazenby said she hopes the research encourages more nuanced discussions about GLP-1 use, rather than judgment and oversimplification.<\/p>\n Reference <\/p>\n Lazenby, B., Guidry, A., Price, S., Shuvo, M.S.M., Alikhanova, T., Morrison, C., Davis, N. and Lenard, M. (2026). “They Call Us Cheaters”: Exploring Stigma Management Communication Strategies During GLP-1 Medication Use. Health Communication, pp. 1\u201411. doi:10.1080\/10410236.2026.2734167. <\/p>\n Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Kara Dolman<\/a> and James Debens<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People taking GLP-1 medications are often reluctant to tell friends and family about their treatment, fearing they will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[985,97,5446,243,3458],"class_list":["post-864289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-diabetes","tag-health","tag-hormones","tag-medication","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864289","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=864289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}