The GLP-1 Revolution Meets the Middle East's Obesity Crisis: A Comprehensive Analysis
A single injection once a week for major weight loss. That is the promise of medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which are changing the way obesity is treated worldwide. In the Middle East, their popularity reflects more than global hype. Across the Gulf, obesity has become one of the region's most pressing public health challenges. Recent studies show a sharp rise in the number of people who are overweight or obese across the GCC. The scale of the problem is striking. A 2022 study published in the Journal of Obesity, analyzing two decades of regional data, found that 21.2% of people in the Middle East are obese, while 33.1% are overweight. Gender disparities are also pronounced, with women consistently recording higher obesity rates than men across several countries in the region. In Kuwait, studies conducted between 2014 and 2019 found that obesity among women ranged between 48% and 55%, compared with roughly 36% to 43% among men, highlighting a persistent gender gap in obesity prevalence.
Beyond the "Quick Fix"
While GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro are often criticized on social media as "cosmetic" weight-loss tools, medical experts in the region say their impact goes far beyond aesthetics when used under proper medical supervision. Dr Jomana Karim, a Dubai-based family medicine practitioner specializing in injectable weight-loss therapies, says the medications address serious metabolic risks linked to obesity. "Injectable weight-loss treatments reduce the rate of obesity-related cancers, improve fatty liver disease and other aspects of metabolic syndrome," she says. Unlike procedures such as liposuction, which remove subcutaneous fat beneath the skin, GLP-1 drugs work by targeting visceral fat, the dangerous internal fat that surrounds vital organs.
Ali Hashemi, co-founder and CEO of Metabolic, believes these medications represent a major turning point for the UAE. "In the UAE, GLP-1s have been a real inflection point. Not because they are a "quick fix" but because they finally give many patients a clinically meaningful reduction in appetite and cravings, which creates a window where sustainable behavior change becomes possible." He notes that for a region with such a high health burden, this may be the first time a scalable, evidence-based medical tool has become widely available to address obesity at a population level, provided it is used as part of a structured clinical program.
What the Science Shows
Evidence from both regional and international studies suggests that GLP-1 therapies can produce substantial weight loss. A 2024 study from King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia found that patients using GLP-1 medications lost an average of 10.11kg. These results align with major international trials. The Step-1 trial study, which examined semaglutide use in people without diabetes, found that weekly injections led to an average 15% reduction in body weight over 68 weeks. Another major study, the "Select" trial published in 2023, showed that semaglutide also reduced the risk of major heart attacks and strokes in overweight patients with cardiovascular disease—even in those without diabetes. Additional research has also highlighted broader metabolic benefits. Dr Chun-Su Yuan, the Cyrus Tang Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care at the University of Chicago, co-authored a 2024 study comparing different GLP-1 receptor agonists. The analysis found that the drugs not only lowered blood glucose and supported weight loss but also helped reduce cholesterol levels.
The Caution Behind the Hype
Despite the promising results, researchers warn that GLP-1 therapies are not a universal solution. Yuan noted that the rapid rise in popularity of these medications could lead to overuse. "The current fervor for GLP-1RAs in the capital markets as well as in the general public, especially in terms of weight reduction, is probably going to result in overuse," he said, adding that treatment must be tailored to individual patients and their underlying conditions. In a recent study, Sabina Semiz, a professor at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, noted that more research is needed to understand how GLP-1 therapies affect diverse Arab populations. "So far, the choice of drug treatment is mostly guided by the underlying cause of obesity, the presence of comorbid conditions, the severity of the condition, and the individual assessment of risks and benefits," Semiz said in the paper. She also highlighted practical barriers to wider adoption. The high cost of GLP-1 therapies, she noted, continues to limit access for lower-income groups across the UAE and the wider MENA region.
Hashemi notes that there is currently no widely published regional registry that clearly measures how common specific complications are among patients using these drugs. He also warns that bypassing medical supervision can lead to serious problems. "Officially, these are prescription-only medicines," he says. "When people access GLP-1s without a proper clinical assessment, they’re not being proactive—they’re gambling."
When Things Go Wrong
Another challenge for many people is that staying on treatment is not always straightforward—or sustainable. A 2025 study found that 54% of patients discontinue GLP-1 treatment early, often because of the high cost, supply shortages or side effects such as nausea. Hashemi adds that the dangers extend beyond typical side effects. "It’s wrong patient selection, wrong titration, missed contraindications and the growing counterfeit ecosystem around these drugs," he says. "If you want the benefits of a powerful metabolic therapy, you also need the guardrails of a real medical program."
Other reported side effects include headaches, reflux, constipation and irritation at the injection site. Some patients also experience dizziness or fatigue. However, Karim explains that these symptoms are sometimes linked to patients eating significantly less while on the medication, rather than the drug itself. She says that careful dosing and gradual escalation can reduce the risk of complications such as gallstones and pancreatitis.
The fact remains, though, that comprehensive regional data on these risks remains limited. While health authorities track adverse drug reactions, publicly available data on the prevalence of GLP-1-related side effects across the GCC is still sparse.
Beyond the Injection
Importantly, even with medication, long-term weight loss still depends on lifestyle changes. Research suggests that without resistance training and adequate protein intake, patients using GLP-1 therapies may lose significant amounts of lean muscle alongside fat. Appetite suppression alone is rarely enough to produce healthy or sustainable results. "The drug can lower appetite so effectively that people accidentally under-eat protein and stop training, and then the weight loss becomes "lighter" rather than "healthier,"" Hashemi says. Keeping the weight off therefore remains one of the biggest challenges. Karim compares GLP-1 therapy to "renting a different physiology," temporarily altering the hormones that regulate hunger.
One analogy often used by clinicians is that the medication works like noise-cancelling headphones, silencing the constant "food noise." But when treatment stops, those headphones come off. Using the treatment period to build sustainable habits—including cognitive behavioral strategies—can help patients maintain weight loss once the medication is discontinued. Bringing this health crisis under control has implications that extend beyond individual health. According to the World Obesity Federation, obesity could cost the UAE nearly 5% of its GDP by 2035, reflecting rising healthcare spending and lost productivity.
Today’s GLP-1 therapies are some of the most powerful obesity treatments available—but they may only be the beginning. Researchers are already developing next-generation drugs that mimic multiple metabolic hormones, potentially reshaping how metabolic disease is treated in the years ahead.
