New weight-loss drugs promise transformation, but research shows that body image, health, and self-worth remain deeply complicated.
The final weeks of the year are often filled with celebration and connection, prompting a great deal of reflection on what the next 12 months may hold. With the New Year on the horizon, many people feel a familiar pull toward self-improvement that can inspire a renewed commitment to health and wellness.
New Year's resolutions have traditionally taken the form of new diet regimens or specific weight-loss goals. But the rise of the body positivity movement in the 2010s created greater acceptance of the idea that a healthy body can come in a variety of weights, shapes, and sizes.
Now, in the era of GLP-1s, the conversation may be changing yet again.
“Pursuing health in today’s culture requires navigating a constant tension between two powerful but deeply conflicted narratives,” said Charlotte Markey, professor of psychology and chair of the Department of Health Sciences at Rutgers University–Camden.
Markey’s more than three decades of research have focused on psychology, health, and human development to examine how people think about their bodies and how those perceptions shape well-being across a person’s lifespan.
“On one hand, the body positivity movement encourages self-acceptance, respect for body diversity, and a rejection of the shame-based messages that have harmed people for generations,” Markey said. “On the other hand, the rapid rise of GLP-1 medications has revived a cultural obsession with thinness and “fixing” the body, often reinforcing the idea that shrinking oneself is automatically healthy.”
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists – better known as GLP-1s – were developed as a result of research from the 1980s and 1990s into how gut hormones regulate blood sugar. Over time, pharmaceutical advances produced longer-acting, more effective formulations, while their use expanded beyond treating Type 2 diabetes to broader applications in weight management and cardiometabolic health.
This rapid evolution from a treatment for diabetes to a seemingly magical weight loss solution has created a new set of public perceptions and expectations.
“In terms of what we are seeing so far, these medications have opened the door for more nuanced conversations about metabolic health and have challenged the longstanding belief that weight is purely a matter of personal willpower,” Markey said.
“From a body-positive perspective, however, GLP-1s have intensified pressure on people, especially women, to pursue weight loss at all costs,” Markey continued. “There is a growing social expectation that if weight loss is now ‘medically easy,’ people should take on the burden of becoming smaller, regardless of whether it is necessary, accessible, affordable, aligned with their values, or even healthy for that person.”
Markey emphasized that psychological research on weight loss and mental health has shown that it does not necessarily improve an individual's feelings about body image.
“Most people struggle to some extent with body image,” said Markey. “Body image is a messy, complicated issue, but body dissatisfaction can improve with support, information, and in some cases, the guidance of a therapist or similar expert. This can take effort, but it is worth it.”
In the end, Markey suggests that a holistic view of health—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual—is likely to produce the most positive outcomes.
“Pursuing health in this cultural moment means reclaiming autonomy and making decisions based on one’s values, medical needs, mental health, and lived experience, rather than on societal expectations,” said Markey. “It’s about giving ourselves permission to inhabit our bodies with dignity, curiosity, and care, even when the culture around us pulls us in contradictory directions.”
