jabs to patients with obesity. The latest figures say one in three Scots are obese. Dr Mark Strachan is president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and says more people need access to what he calls the ‘astonishing drug.’ NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde says it’s looking into the prescribing of weight loss jabs (sic) Mounjaro and Wegovy.

BBC Scotland‘s insert in BBC Breakfast this morning has the above.

How strong is the evidence for Dr Strachan’s view which I note has not appeared widely in news media today?

A ‘senior’ doctor you might think better qualified to comment – Dr Andrew Fraser, of Obesity Action Scotland – says the drugs are not the answer and estimates the cost would be around £3bn per year.¹

BBC Scotland here is pushing a very one-sided argument contrary to their charter to inform and to educate.

Experts at the heart of NHS Scotland² rather than any old senior doctor worry that relying heavily on drugs could “medicalise” obesity while ignoring the underlying drivers:

• poverty
• unhealthy food environments
• housing and transport issues
• stress and inequality

NHS Scotland itself describes obesity as a complex condition shaped by social and environmental factors, not simply individual behaviour.

So many public health researchers argue the drugs should complement — not replace — broader measures such as:

• healthier school food
• active travel infrastructure
• anti-poverty policies
• prevention programmes

Sources:

1. https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/health/15646086/fat-jabs-not-enough-transform-scottish-diet/
2. https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/nutritional/obesity/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

For those with the time, there are powerful sources casting doubt on Strachan’s simplistic announcement which a ‘senior’ doctor should know of and which the researchers at BBC Scotland should have used to make a more balanced report:

Some notable examples:

• PLOS Global Public Health paper on the social implications of GLP‑1 drugs
  Researchers from universities in Denmark, Brazil, the US and elsewhere argue that GLP-1 drugs will have “complex social implications” and discuss concerns about inequality, stigma, and over-medicalisation of body weight.
• Oxford Academic: “Behavioral medicine in the GLP‑1 era” by Janet Tomiyama (UCLA)
  Tomiyama argues obesity treatment still needs behavioural and environmental approaches alongside medication, and warns against reducing obesity to a purely pharmaceutical problem.
• University of Bristol study on GPs’ perspectives on GLP‑1 obesity drugs
  English GPs interviewed by researchers said they worried GLP-1 drugs could detract from tackling the broader determinants of obesity”, become an “overly simplistic solution” be introduced without adequate social and system support.
• SAGE article on GLP‑1 drugs and health equity divides
  Researchers Kateri Spinelli and Allison Oakes argue that GLP-1 access may widen health inequalities because wealthier patients are more likely to obtain and sustain treatment.
• Social Science & Medicine article on “stratified biomedicalization” and weight‑loss drugs
  This sociology research examines how obesity increasingly becomes treated through biomedical solutions, while social inequalities (including race, gender and class) shape who benefits.
• SAGE article on cultural discourses around GLP‑1 agonists
  The authors argue weight management is often framed as an issue of “individual choice” and personal responsibility, even though broader social factors strongly influence obesity.

So the concern is not fringe or purely political. There is a substantial strand of academic research arguing:

• GLP-1 drugs are genuinely effective medical treatments,
• but obesity is also socially patterned,
• and relying too heavily on medication risks neglecting structural drivers such as poverty, food systems, inequality, stress, and the built environment.