Don’t use Ozempic or Wegovy for the perfect body for Instagram’, says the health writer

Weight loss jabs like Ozempic and Wegovy should not be used to get the “perfect body for Instagram”, Wes Streeting said amid the strong need for treatment.

The health secretary told Institute of Politics and Sophy Ridge that his view on vaccines is “very good”, since if the results can be “game changing” to deal with obesity, they should not be “used and abused”.

Obesity costs the NHS around £6.5bn a year and is the second most preventable cause of cancer.

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Studies show that people lose an average of 15% of their body weight within months of starting treatment with Wegovy, the brand name of semaglutide, also known as Ozempic.

Drugs mimic the natural hormone and people feel full faster and longer.

But thousands of people who could benefit from it are denied entry due to the slower than planned start-up of health services, a survey conducted by our science reporter Thomas Moore found.

Asked if he was concerned about the report, Mr Streeting said: “My view on this is very different.

“For overweight people, that diet, exercise doesn’t feel like it has much impact, it feels like you’re in a losing battle. I think drugs can have a big impact on getting weight under control .

“Where I think we have to be careful, though, is that we don’t see these drugs as an excuse not to do something right about our diet, nutrition, exercise or use as a cosmetic drug for people. The perfect body for Instagram.”

Mr Streeting went on to say the drug could risk causing eating disorders and body dysmorphia if taken in large doses – and should be used alongside diet and exercise, not as a supplement.

“Drugs come at a cost and they come at a cost to the NHS,” he added.

“It’s great that the NHS is there for us and it’s free to use… but that doesn’t mean you have to use it and abuse it.”

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People ‘left Brexit’

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Streeting said people had “left Brexit”, when asked about the green paper which found that leaving the EU reduced investment by 11%.

The paper, about the Government’s New Industrial Policy, was opened by an adviser from the chancellor who spoke of establishing close relations with Brussels to ensure smooth trade and fair trade.

Asked why there would be no debate about returning to the single market or the customs union, given Labour’s ambitions for growth, Mr Streeting said: “People progress, the country has progressed, the EU has progressed.

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“And let me tell you, not only here but in Brussels, there is no desire to overturn those arguments, to reopen things that have already been resolved.”

He said the Remain camp, which he supported, had warned of the economic consequences of Brexit – which he said had happened, and “is a fact of life. We have to deal with it”.

“I think the sweet spot is working as closely with the European Union as we can, but also showing the ability to work with partners in other markets as well.”

On deregulation – an important message from Sir Keir Starmer at the business leaders’ investment conference today – Mr Streeting said this was no longer a “left-wing debate in British politics”.

“There is too much regulation in the NHS and other sectors… I also think there is too much regulation in the economy.

“Sometimes, simplification is more effective. And that’s traditionally been the debate on the left in British politics. But really it shouldn’t be, it should be a right conversation or you are wrong.”