COIOS
Healthcare today Item new peer-reviewed

Off-label GLP-1 prescribing in US adults rose 15-fold, a third of it at normal weight

Among 92.4 million US adults with no documented type 2 diabetes or qualifying obesity, GLP-1 receptor agonist prescribing rose from 0.1% in 2021 to 1.5% in 2025, and 35.1% of the 1.13 million recipients had a normal body mass index.

A retrospective cohort used Cosmos electronic health records covering 92.4 million US adults with no documented approved indication for liraglutide, semaglutide or tirzepatide between January 2021 and December 2025. Prescribing to this group rose 15-fold, from 0.1% to 1.5%, reaching 1,133,953 people, of whom 85.5% were female, 35.1% had a normal body mass index, and more were privately insured and from less socially vulnerable areas. Recorded eating disorders were six times more common among recipients than non-recipients, 1.8% against 0.3%.

Why it is interesting: It puts a figure on how much GLP-1 use now sits outside the populations in which the evidence on weight, diabetes and mortality was generated.

Source
Obesity, 22 September 2026
DOI
10.1002/oby.70301
Type
Peer-reviewed article
Design
Retrospective cohort in Cosmos US electronic health records, 92.4m adults without an apparent approved indication, 2021-2025
Verdict
New finding
Driver
Cardiovascular disease
Driver
Obesity, diabetes and the GLP-1 drugs