How Many Americans Are Using GLP-1 Medications in 2026?

Direct Answer

According to Gallup's July 2026 survey, 11% of U.S. adults currently use GLP-1 medications for weight loss, up sharply from just 3% in 2024, nearly a fourfold increase in two years. An additional 4% have used one previously, bringing total lifetime use to 15%.

The Real Growth Trend

A Real, Correlated Shift: Obesity Rates Are Declining

After peaking at a record 39.9% in 2022, the U.S. adult obesity rate has gradually declined to 36.4% in 2026, a statistically meaningful drop that Gallup notes inversely tracks with rising GLP-1 usage nationally. Diabetes diagnosis rates, by contrast, have leveled off rather than declined, consistent with diabetes being a lifetime condition that's managed rather than reversed.

Brand-Name Still Leads, But Compounded Use Is Growing

Brand-name medications like Ozempic and Wegovy account for 68% of current GLP-1 use, versus 19% using a compounded or custom-mixed version. But real, notable momentum exists on the compounded side: 35% of current compounded users switched from a brand-name product, compared to just 10% who switched the other direction, with cost or insurance coverage cited as the primary reason by 66% of those who moved to compounded versions.

A Real, Counter-Intuitive Finding Worth Noting Carefully

Compounded users self-reported slightly higher effectiveness than brand-name users, 39% called their medication "extremely effective" versus 32% of brand-name users. This is real, self-reported survey data, not a clinical comparison, and Gallup's own methodology notes a meaningfully wider margin of error for the smaller compounded-user subgroup, worth treating as a genuine data point, not proof that compounded medications work better.

Bottom Line

GLP-1 usage has grown dramatically and genuinely correlates with real, national obesity-rate improvement, while real, practical dynamics like cost and insurance coverage continue shaping how people access these medications, brand-name versus compounded.

References

• Gallup: In U.S., GLP-1 Usage Reaches New High (July 7, 2026), based on a Gallup Panel survey of 5,065 U.S. adults

Related Resources

• Is Compounded GLP-1 Being Banned? What the FDA's 503B Proposal Actually Does

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