Just 39% of pill takers dropped to one snack a day, against 49% on shots
People taking GLP‑1 pills for weight loss cut back on snacking less than people taking the same drugs by injection, across salty snacks, baked goods, confections and shelf‑stable foods such as soup.
Bloomberg Intelligence reported on September 17 that 74 percent of oral users said they were eating fewer salty snacks, against 80 percent of injection users.
For baked goods the split was 76 percent against 82 percent.
Among people who ate three snacks a day before starting a weight‑loss drug, 49 percent of those injecting cut down to one snack a day, compared with 39 percent of pill takers.
Bloomberg Intelligence projects more than 19 percent of the US population will be taking a GLP‑1 drug by 2030, up from about 7.5 percent in 2026, with pills expected to widen use because they are easier for most people to take.
Goldman Sachs analysts expect oral GLP‑1s to capture roughly 24 percent of the global weight-loss drug market by 2030, about US$22bn, CNBC reported.
Health Canada approved Rybelsus, a once‑daily semaglutide tablet, in January 2026 for adults with type 2 diabetes who also have cardiovascular disease or are at high risk of heart disease, Global News reported.
The first GLP-1 pill cleared for Canadian patients is not authorized for chronic weight management, and Novo Nordisk has applied to bring an oral Wegovy formulation to Canada.
Two generic versions of Ozempic began arriving in Canadian pharmacies in May 2026, with Apotex pricing its product at approximately one third of brand‑name Ozempic, BNN Bloomberg reported.
Sandoz Canada said on September 18, that Health Canada had authorized Sandoz Semaglutide, a generic version of Ozempic, for the once‑weekly treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes.
The TELUS Health 2026 Drug Data Trends and National Benchmarks Report found that weight-management therapies climbed six positions to become the 11th-largest drug category by spend in Canadian private plans, growing 61 percent in 2025 after 104 percent growth in 2024, and now account for 2.5 percent of total eligible spend.
Private drug plans account for roughly 38 percent of all prescribed drug spending in Canada, based on claims data from more than 15 million insured people.
Fewer than half of private plans were estimated to provide automatic coverage of weight‑management drugs, according to TELUS Health's 2026 Drug Pipeline report, which also found spending on the category has more than quadrupled since 2021.
