The Spire

Addy Woodbury ‘29

Guest Writer

As I go about my daily life, I can’t help but notice the influx of concerningly sculpted faces and skeleton-like bodies. I feel a dark, lifeless energy when I look around at overly lethargic individuals who seem like they physically can’t muster the strength to blink. I am saddened by the emptiness in the eyes of those whose sparkle has been dimmed. Personally, I believe this is no real way to live life.

The Ozempic epidemic, otherwise known as the “Ozempidemic,” is debilitating and is taking over modern society. What once started as a prescription drug used to treat diabetes has now become an endorsed weight loss enhancer that is being abused by the public. Through appetite reduction, slower digestion and decreased calorie intake, Ozempic has become a hot commodity for those seeking weight loss quickly and efficiently. But what both Ozempic consumers and those who promote it fail to recognize is the fact that this severe, rapid decline in weight is extremely detrimental to one’s physical being as well as the minds of an impressionable audience.

I absolutely believe in healthy weight loss, as it relieves the mind, body and soul with feelings of improvement and productive change. But personally, I don’t classify starvation and malnutrition as a healthy approach to see positive results. The idea of taking a pill or injecting a substance that will ensure a lack of hunger and no inclination for nourishment is completely contradictory to what we need as human beings. We are made to eat! Food is sustenance; it fuels your body. Food gives us the energy we need to perform basic and essential tasks, and without this energy, other areas of our lives become negatively impacted. I know that when I go prolonged periods of time without eating, I find it difficult to prioritize the things I need to do and bothersome to interact with others. In these moments, it seems completely illogical to be doing anything other than eating. It’s natural for your body to feel hungry and it should feel hungry often, so ingesting something that guarantees rejection of this instinctual feeling is just harmful and abnormal.

In addition to Ozempic’s physical destruction of the body, I have unfortunately witnessed a pervasive normalization of this methodology in modern media. Celebrities will go on red carpets or appear in interviews and are visibly drained, barely summoning the energy to formulate thoughtful answers. It’s as if they’re playing mad-libs with the interviewers. They fill in the blank and move on. There is no substance or longevity in their words, and with this comes a permanent look of dissociation. When media consumers shed light on this and question a public figure’s participation in the Ozempidemic, public relations teams rush to silence these voices. I’ve noticed that once public speculation escalates, those in the public eye jump to lecturing their audience about the detriment of commenting on others’ bodies. To me, this is a sign of deflection, as these people resort to guilt-tripping others in order to divert attention away from the real issue at hand. Because of this perpetual avoidance by celebrities and influencers alike, we as a society are made to believe that this is normal, healthy behavior. Within these systematic, domineering habits lies an intense desire to manipulate the public into conformity and the adoption of a toxic lifestyle.

I believe that we owe it to ourselves and our wellbeing to constantly nurture and reward our bodies because it’s necessary. The Ozempidemic has caused the opposite reaction and promotes sickly practices in the name of regular weight loss. For the sake of protecting one another, it’s imperative that we continuously call out the dangerous, inhumane patterns of those who have fallen victim to this outbreak. After all, our bodies fight for our wellness every day, so it’s important that we return the favor.