“Skinny Is Back”—and That Should Concern Us
As someone currently in recovery, I cannot begin to explain how difficult it is to heal in an era that constantly celebrates shrinking bodies, promotes suppressing hunger, and glamorizes extreme weight loss.
An Important Note
I want to be clear that I am not criticizing anyone who uses these medications for their health. They can be beneficial and life-changing for many people. What concerns me is the way their popularity has taken off and how society has turned medical treatment into another reason to glorify weight loss, suppress hunger, and pressure people to become smaller.
The Ozempic Era
We are living in a time when shrinking your body is being presented as quick, normal, and almost expected. Weight-loss injections, celebrity transformations, before-and-after photos, and constant conversations about appetite have brought thinness back into the spotlight just under the label of “wellness.”
The message is the problem
When weight loss is constantly celebrated, it can reinforce the belief that being thinner automatically makes someone healthier, happier, or more worthy. It can also make normal hunger seem like something that needs to be silenced or controlled.
For someone struggling with an eating disorder or working toward recovery, these messages can bring back the same harmful ideas they are trying to unlearn. Research on GLP-1 medications and eating disorders is still developing, but experts have warned that appetite suppression and rigid control may worsen eating-disorder thoughts or behaviors for some people.
New version, same old standard
The pressure to be thin is not new. What has changed is how it is being marketed. Instead of openly calling it dieting, society may call it eliminating “food noise,” improving discipline, or becoming the “best version” of yourself.
But constantly thinking about how to eat less, weigh less, or take up less space is not freedom. It is the same unrealistic body standard presented in a newer and more socially acceptable form.