With the recent uptick in weight loss drug usage, public scrutiny has turned to the role celebrities play in normalizing the trend to skinny.. According to eMarketer, a website that tracks advertising and marketing trends, after Serena Williams started using GLP-1 (a weight-loss drug), GLP-1 usage spiked: “Serena Williams caused a 27% increase following her August 21, 2025 ad campaign release with telehealth company Ro.”
Celebrities have a significant influence on how viewers and supporters view themselves, especially younger viewers, regarding body image. According to Social Media and Youth Mental Health, “[up to 95% of youth-ages 13-17 report using social media platforms, with more than a third saying they use social media ‘almost constantly.”
Teenagers are always on social media, and when the use of weight loss drugs increases among celebrities, it can deeply harm how teenagers view themselves.
“Hollywood is starving. Everyone’s on Ozempic, and it’s not real, and celebrities use these false solutions, and it causes young people to want to look a certain way,” Madi Shields, a freshman at Montclair High School, said.
Younger audiences are also influenced much more easily. This is another reason why celebrities should be careful with what they post on social media.They may think they are doing good by speaking out on using weight loss drugs, but they could be doing more harm than good.
While the biggest factor of celebrities addressing their usage of these drugs is how some teenagers will see them and go to extreme measures just to achieve a certain look, even risking their health. Tatum Fromson, a freshman at MHS, said, “I feel self-aware when celebrities post their weight loss journeys because, like, I know that you’re not losing 30 pounds in one week, girl. Let’s chill.”
Many other factors play into using these weight loss drugs, like side effects, cost, and even major health issues, but a lot of celebrities forget to address these things when sharing their weight loss journey when using these drugs.
“We should show teens the negative repercussions of taking these weight loss drugs,” Shields said.
As a community, we should try to help teenagers with their body image, not hurt them. We can do this by addressing the negative side effects of these weight loss drugs, teaching teenagers that not everything on social media is real and that there are healthy ways to lose weight without harming themselves.
