Sixty per cent of patients at a leading clinic seeking help for eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are using weight-loss jabs.
A growing number of patients with the potentially life-threatening conditions have admitted to doctors during therapy sessions that they are taking Wegovy, Mounjaro or Ozempic to control their weight, says rehab specialist The UKAT Group.
Doctors at its Banbury Lodge clinic in Banbury, Oxfordshire, say 28 out of the 48 patients they have treated for eating disorders this year – nearly two-thirds – were using the powerful drugs, which can reduce bodyweight by up to 20 per cent.
Some patients were as young as 16, the doctors add.
Experts at the clinic say the problem has significantly worsened in six months. Last year, no patient was using the jabs.
The revelation raises fresh concerns about how easy it is to get hold of the drugs, and the lack of effective safeguards.
They are only licensed for use on the NHS by people who are obese and have weight-related health problems – but there is a huge private market for the treatments and a spiralling black market.
Dimitri Theofili, eating disorder therapist at Banbury Lodge, said: ‘What we’re seeing is really concerning.
Sixty per cent of patients at a leading clinic seeking help for eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are using weight-loss jabs
Dimitri Theofili, eating disorder therapist at Banbury Lodge, said 28 out of the 48 patients they have treated for eating disorders this year – nearly two-thirds – were using the powerful drugs, which can reduce bodyweight by up to 20 per cent
Clients as young as 16 are revealing during therapy that they are misusing weight-loss injections to fuel their unhealthy relationship with food.
‘This is all about psychological control – the need to control what they’re putting into their body.
Society’s acceptance of weight- loss jabs to tackle weight loss rather than their main intended purpose – to help control type 2 diabetes or to tackle clinical obesity – has fuelled this notion that if you’re not using a weight- loss jab to lose weight, then you’re falling behind.’
Campaigners said last night that urgent action needs to be taken to restrict use of the jabs to protect vulnerable people.
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at the UK’s eating disorder charity Beat, said the statistics are ‘very concerning’.
‘These medications are extremely dangerous for people with eating disorders because they can worsen harmful eating behaviours and thoughts for people who are unwell, or contribute to an eating disorder developing in those who are at risk,’ he said.
‘It should be mandatory for thorough mental health assessments to be carried out alongside physical health checks, and for regular check-ins if someone is prescribed weight-loss drugs, including once the course of treatment is over.’
Some 500,000 people in Britain are thought to be taking Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro, most via private prescriptions.
Concerns have been raised about the lack of safeguards around such prescriptions.
Little is known about the safety of the jabs for people of normal weight – let alone those with eating disorders who may already be severely underweight.
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, on 0808 801 0677 or at beateatingdisorders.org.uk
