The Uncharted Territory of the New Obesity Drugs in Users Without Obesity: A Sociomedical Perspective

The off-label use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1ra) among people without obesity and/or diabetes is rapidly expanding, despite a lack of clinical justification or safety data in this population. This Perspective explores the sociomedical dimensions of this trend, highlighting key research gaps and emerging hypotheses around the off-label use of GLP-1ra to an individual goal of slimness rather than health. We propose that off-label GLP-1ra use by people with normative or mildly elevated weight reveals deeper tensions between scientific progress, stigma, and cultural ideals of the body. Understanding this phenomenon requires moving beyond biomedical efficacy to interrogate the psychological, behavioral, and sociopolitical implications of pharmacological thinness. Cross-cultural and intersectional approaches from the social sciences are key to understanding this emergent phenomenon.