Loving Sarah Vine on This Morning -Ozempic

[AmyFFowler]

She said we live in an obesogenic society and need to be realistic about the need for weight loss drugs like ozempic. She also said we are genetically programmed to eat as much as possible when we can as our ancestors didn’t know when the next wilderbeast would come along. Now we can just sit in our house and deliveroo will bring us food.
Completely agree with all of the above. I am currently working very hard and managing to lose weight without the help of drugs, so I do also ‘get’ the personal responsibility side to this. I just think as a society we are fighting a losing battle if we don’t embrace the new wave of weight loss drugs. Hopefully in time there will be more studies into long term use.

Only yesterday she was an expert on NHS midwives competency, and now novel weight loss drugs. What an absolute genius she is.

What about the cost? Hundreds of pounds a month. Per person. I think taxes on fatty/ sugary/ salty foods must rise accordingly. Smokers have been persecuted beyond belief and the cost of medical treatment always comes up viz banning smoking. So quid pro quo. Fat people get ozempic but just as vast taxes have been applied to fags, ditto fatties’ drug of choice - high calorie, low nutrition foods.

When you say fatties get Ozempic what about the cost…99% of fatties on Ozempic have to pay several hundred pounds per month to have the drug on private prescription. Its very difficult to get it prescribed.

Only yesterday she was an expert on NHS midwives competency, and now novel weight loss drugs. What an absolute genius she is.

Good old Sarah Vain, where would we be without her 'award' winning journalism?

The same drugs that can cause heart attack and strokes and the positive studies are paid for by the drug makers? Really?

I think that’s fair enough and I say this as a fatty who has acquired weight loss drugs privately. it will help with education and making better choices for younger people too.

some people though are still of the school of thought that fat people are just greedy and lazy and should suffer, not have anything made easier for them, whilst equally berating them for draining the NHS.

Obesity can cause heart attack and strokes.

Latest evidence shows protective effects on the heart even without weight loss.

Obesity is already associated with poverty and deprivation; rich people already tend to be slimmer. This really isn't the answer. Very few people can't afford a chocolate bar or large bag of crisis a few times a week and if their already stretched budget is stretched still further, that'll likely motivate them to buy more...because what else are they going to spend their limited time and money on to get a little pleasure?

You appear to have incorrectly used the term "Sarah Vine" in a sentence.

I listened to the discussion on Jeremy Vine yesterday , it was interesting but I don’t think I could handle the nausea , sounds horrible

I’m late 50s and shocked just how little I now need to consume to maintain my weight. Definitely in the 12000 to 13000 calories range. CBA to do food prep anymore.

Who paid for that evidence?

Given all the concerns about obesity and over processed food surely we should be encouraging good diets and portion control . These so called weight loss drugs have only been around for a short period of time. It will be years before we know the long term benefits/ side effects. In the meantime Big Pharma and the fat cats with shares in Big pharma will make a fortune.
Much better if we could promote attitudes of self restraint and cooking from scratch. I know that people have busy lives, fresh food is expensive and I agree that fast food is addictive. But the answer to these problems is not to inject someone with more chemicals once the damage is done. That’s the easy path . It may be a good path for some people but on a societal level it’s a poor solution.

I have been astounded to see how much harder it gets in 50s for many, especially mid 50s on. Unless very, very active you can get very fat on same number of calories as you consumed in 20s & 30s & even early 40s without thought. Genetics seems to play a bigger role than many realise too I feel.

Oh if only I'd known I just needed more self restraint! Yet again people on here preaching who have no idea of what it is like to be long term obese and the things people will try to loose weight.
I'm not stupid, or lazy or lacking time to make food from scratch, that is the type of stereotypical judgmental bs that we have to put up with all the time.
These injections have meant that I am not constantly thinking about food and when I'm getting my next hit. I walked around a supermarket yesterday and didn't put a single chocolate or cake into my basket, unheard of in my life! I got in my car and cried with relief.

@Daisypod do you think it might be as simple as ‘hunger’ we seem all to experience it differently? It can’t be continually & successfully fought & that’s what people fail to understand?

As she was married to Michael Gove, I would take her judgement with a pinch of salt...

I take around 21 meds per day, four of which guarantee weight gain. We’re not all lazy, uneducated fools.

Now we can just sit in our house and deliveroo will bring us food.

Well... yeah. You CAN. You can make other choices, though. You can go out & get your own shopping or go out & do FUN things or even active stuff.

Free will & self-determination and agency still exist.

Yes that's common, I think. I'm sorry you're affected.

Spinal injury is what sparked my weight struggle. For other it seems to be menopause.

"Luckily" the medicines i am prescribed have rotted my teeth but not added to my weight gain.

I think a lot of people struggle to imagine being chronically unwell or otherwise impaired so they don't extend much empathy for the knock on effects.

Plus there's some kind of pro-Ana-lite that is widespread on MN. So it's not a great place to try to get a balanced debate on this subject.

I take mounjaro, it is literally changing everything for me and I've been on it a week. My whole outlook on everything has changed, down 5 lbs and literally so mindful about what's going in my mouth.
It comes at a significant monetary cost, but then people don't think much of spending the same of not more on booze and cigarettes.
For the first time in my adult life, I feel full like a normal person, and don't have to have a sugar fox every 5 mins.

There are no studies on these drugs and how they affect people long-term. I don’t think they should be seen as a cure for obesity.

No because I will quite happily eat when full. When I had covid and lost sense of taste and smell I still ate too much and of the 'wrong' foods. There is something that is not simply fixed by basic self restraint

@lljkk exactly! And of course we are not 'genetically programmed to eat as much as possible' if that were true obesity would've always been rife but in the 50s and 60s people ate normally and kept active.

All the crappy food everywhere is the problem and society programmed towards sedentary livjng.

I think the way out of obesity on a societal level is going to have to be medication. Willpower clearly is not enough and we need to stop presenting a lack of willpower as a moral failing.