PEOPLE regain the weight they lose on fat jabs within two years of stopping the drugs, research suggests.
Ozempic-style injections like are a roaring success due to their rapid slimming effect – but UK rules only allow a maximum two-year prescription.
Many experts believe the need to be taken for much longer.
Research by Oxford University has found people typically return to their starting weight one year and eight months after stopping.
The analysis, presented at the European Congress on Obesity looked at weight regain in 6,370 people across 11 previous studies.
It found those taking Wegovy or Mounjaro regained an average of 1st7lbs (9.6kg) within a year, putting them on track to get back the 2st7lbs (16.1kg) they had lost in less than two years.
Those taking older versions of the , such as liraglutide, piled the pounds back on even faster, returning to their starting weight in 10 to 11 months.
Study author Professor Susan Jebb said: “These drugs are very effective at helping you , but when you stop them, weight regain is much faster than diets.
“Either people really have to accept this as a treatment for life or we need to think really hard about how to support people when they stop the drug.”;;
The findings highlight the need for people to start and more alongside the medication.
NHS rules say that people must be given healthy living advice and monitored during treatment.
But the vast majority of people using them to slim down buy them privately, with little to no follow-up from a medic.
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: “It shouldn’t surprise anyone if people regain weight having used GLP-1 drugs without seriously attempting to improve their lifestyle.
“This is not the quick fix which many users believe it to be.”;;
Prof Jane Ogden, of the University of Surrey, added: “There’s no point just throwing people back out into the world to carry on their behaviour from before.
“They’re going to need psychological counselling, behaviour change and nutritional support to keep the weight off.”;;
