Eating disorders are on the rise. GLP-1s could make things worse.

The Double-Edged Needle

We are currently witnessing one of the most aggressive medical rollouts in history. GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy have shifted from niche diabetes treatments to cultural icons. For the tech crowd and the builder community, these drugs look like the ultimate life hack—an API call for your metabolism that suppresses hunger and simplifies the complex math of biology.

But as a founder, you know that every time you optimize one metric, you risk breaking three others. New data suggests we are optimizing for scale (weight loss) while ignoring a catastrophic bug in the human operating system: the sharp rise in eating disorders. A recent report tracking data from 1990 to 2023 shows a 71% increase in the global incidence of anorexia and bulimia. This isn't just a slight trend; it is a full-scale systemic failure that predates the current GLP-1 craze but is almost certainly going to be exacerbated by it.

The Engineering of Appetite

To understand the danger, you have to look at how these drugs actually function. They mimic the glucagon-like peptide-1 hormone, which tells your brain you are full. In a world of processed food and sedentary work, that sounds like a fix. But for a clinical psychologist, this is a nightmare scenario. You are essentially providing a pharmacological tool for restriction.

If you have spent any time in the startup world, you know about the obsession with optimization. We track sleep, we track macros, and we track productivity. For someone predisposed to an eating disorder, GLP-1s offer a way to automate that control. It removes the 'willpower' barrier, allowing the disorder to take a deeper hold because the body is no longer sending the natural signals that usually fight back against starvation.

The Statistics of a Silent Epidemic

The 71% jump in eating disorders over the last three decades is a sobering number. It suggests that even before we had the ability to inject weight loss into our systems, our relationship with food and body image was deteriorating. The rise of social media and the constant feedback loop of 'perfect' aesthetics created the environment. Now, GLP-1s have provided the hardware to match that software.

We are looking at a projected future where millions of people are on these drugs indefinitely. Because these medications are often 'forever drugs'—where weight returns once the injections stop—the pressure to stay on them is immense. This creates a cycle of dependency that looks less like healthcare and more like a subscription model for basic survival. For builders in the health-tech space, this is where the ethical line gets blurry.

The Founder's Perspective on Health Tech

I see a lot of pitch decks for longevity and bio-optimization. Everyone wants to be the next big player in the GLP-1 space. But very few founders are talking about the psychological debt being accrued. If your product helps someone lose 50 pounds but leaves them with a clinical fear of eating, did you actually solve a problem? Or did you just trade one chronic illness for another?

The data from the last 30 years shows that we are already losing the battle against disordered eating. Adding a powerful appetite suppressant to a society that already hates its own reflection is like pouring gasoline on a house fire. We need to be skeptical of the 'miracle' narrative. Biology is rarely a free lunch; there is always a trade-off.

Why Builders Should Care

If you are building in the AI or medical space, the temptation is to focus on the 'success' metrics—pounds lost, A1C levels lowered, market share captured. But the 71% rise in anorexia and bulimia is a reminder that the human element is volatile. A tool that works for a diabetic patient might be a weapon in the hands of someone struggling with body dysmorphia.

We have to move beyond the 'move fast and break things' mentality when it comes to human metabolism. When you break a person's relationship with food, it doesn't just reboot with a software update. It often requires years of clinical intervention to fix, and even then, the success rates are not nearly as high as the marketing for GLP-1s would lead you to believe.

The goal of technology should be to enhance human life, not to provide a shortcut that bypasses our natural instincts at the cost of our mental health.

The Road Ahead

The next few years will be a massive experiment. We will see if the medical community can identify the 'high-risk' users before they are prescribed these drugs, or if the lure of a trillion-dollar market will lead to a 'prescribe first, ask questions later' approach. Given the 1990-2023 data, we are already starting from a position of weakness.

We need more than just better drugs; we need better diagnostics for the mind. If we can't figure out why eating disorders have nearly doubled in a generation, we shouldn't be handing out the tools to make them easier to maintain. As founders and investors, we have a responsibility to look at the long-term impact of the 'miracles' we fund.

Final Takeaway

GLP-1s are a significant biotech achievement, but they are entering a market that is already broken. The 71% increase in eating disorders is a red flag that we cannot ignore. Before we celebrate the end of obesity, we need to make sure we aren't just replacing it with a widespread, drug-assisted epidemic of disordered eating. Optimization without empathy is just destruction by another name.

Read the original at MIT Technology Review →