Topline
About one in nine Americans take a GLP-1 medication for weight loss, results from a new Gallup poll released on Tuesday found—a staggering rise over the past two years as the obesity rate in the U.S. continues to decline from a record high in 2022.
A new Gallup poll found about 11% of Americans were taking a GLP-1 medication for weight loss.
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Key Facts
A record high 11% of Americans are taking a GLP-1 medication for weight loss, according to Gallup, up 3% from 2024.
At the same time, Gallup points out the obesity rate among Americans fell to 36.4% in 2026, down from a record high of 39.9% in 2022, the year after GLP-1 medication Wegovy was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat weight loss.
The diabetes rate has also remained flat for the past few years, according to Gallup’s data.
68% of GLP-1 users reported taking a name brand drug developed by pharmaceutical giants like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, including Ozempic, Mounjaro or Zepbound, while 19% said they took custom-mixed drugs unapproved by the FDA.
Public awareness of GLP-1 medications has also surged in recent years, with about 91% of respondents in 2026 reporting they knew the drugs could treat weight loss—up from 80% in 2024.
Cost, Insurance Driving Move to Compounded Drugs
Compounded GLP-1 medications are not approved by the FDA, and the agency issued a warning in June calling them potentially “risky for patients.” This hasn’t stopped patients from switching to the unapproved drugs, and 35% of patients who took compounded GLP-1s left from a name brand drug, according to Gallup. Most people who switched said price impacted the decision—66% cited the cost of name brand drugs as the primary reason for switching, while 34% cited problems with insurance coverage.
Key Background
Novo Nordisk was the first major pharmaceutical company to bring a GLP-1 to market with Wegovy in 2021. However, competition from Eli Lilly has caused sales to decline this year, with the company initially expecting up to a 13% fall in revenue for the first time since it introduced the weight loss drugs. Lilly has continued to grow rapidly and hit a market cap of over $1 trillion for the first time in 2025. The company reported a surging 56% revenue growth for the first quarter of 2026, and raised its revenue guidance by $2 billion for the year.
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