In Some Ozempic Households, the Weight Loss is Contagious

When Amy Kane started taking Mounjaro in 2022, she expected to lose weight — which she did, dropping more than 170 pounds.

What Ms. Kane, a 36-year-old content creator in Chicago, didn’t expect was for the effects on her health to be contagious. Soon after she started the medication, her husband and children began eating more healthfully — and then became more physically active, too.

As medications like Ozempic transform the health of millions of Americans, some families are discovering a surprising side effect: family members who are not taking the drugs are changing their relationship with food and in some cases, losing weight as well.

There isn’t data yet to show how frequently this might occur, but medical experts have long observed similar effects with other weight-loss treatments, said Dr. Lydia Alexander, the former president of the Obesity Medicine Association.

One study of bariatric surgery patients found that two-thirds of partners lost weight within a year of their spouse’s operation, with overweight partners showing the most significant changes. Another study of participants with diabetes in a weight loss program found that spouses who weren’t undergoing any treatment lost an average of nearly five pounds and consumed significantly fewer calories from fat. And anecdotally, providers around the country said they are already seeing a similar effect with the families of patients taking drugs like Ozempic.

“These medications don’t just change appetite, they transform family dynamics,” said Dr. Joey Skelton, professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. By 2024, about one in eight U.S. adults had taken Ozempic or a similar drug, meaning tens of millions of spouses, children and other family members could also be experiencing some effect from these medications without ever taking them.