It appears that Louisianans are slimming down. According to the State of Obesity 2026 report, Louisiana is only one of two states which showed a significant decline in adult obesity rate, falling from 39.2% to 35.6% That helped Louisiana move from No. 3 down to No. 19 in the state rankings for obesity rates. Dr. Oren Rom, the assistant vice chancellor for research at LSU Health Shreveport, says you can thank Ozempic and Mounjaro for that.
“I think I have a very clear answer. It’s the availability and the increasing rates of using GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs,” Rom said.
Dr. Rom says the benefits of the GLP-1 drugs, which are becoming more and more popular for weight loss, outweigh the side effects.
“The main side effect that we are seeing at the moment is loss of skeletal muscle mass. It could be also bone density. That’s something that can happen with rapid decreasing body weight,” Rom explained.
Rom says the one side effect of using the GLP-1 drugs, loss of skeletal muscle mass, is easily treatable.
“The solution for that is going to the gym and doing resistance training; but many of the patients that are using those drugs don’t do that,” Rom noted.
The only other state to show a significant decline in adult obesity rate is West Virginia.