The effort to uplift people with bigger bodies in the 2010s could to be slowing with the growing popularity of weight loss medications. The percentage of U.S. adults who use drugs like GLP-1s doubled from 2024 to 2025. At the same time, obesity rates in the U.S have been declining since 2022. 

Could this be the end of the body positivity movement? What does embracing weight loss drugs say about the shifting standards of beauty in the U.S?

Randy Seeley is the director of the Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center at the University of Michigan. He is also a paid consultant to pharmaceutical companies Lilly and Novo which manufacture drugs like Zepbound, Mounjaro and Ozempic. He joined the program to explain how GLP-1s are being used for both health and vanity.

Kendrin Sonneville, an associate professor and Chair of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan joined to talk about how GLP-1 medications are changing the way we view bigger bodies.