Dietitians’ attitudes toward GLP-1s: weight bias and professional identity in an Israeli context

The rapid expansion of pharmacological interventions using GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonists, which induce significant weight loss primarily through appetite suppression, has reshaped contemporary approaches to fatness and “obesity,” raising new professional, ethical, and cultural questions for clinical dietitians. Given the pervasive weight bias in the field, it seems unlikely that dietitians would oppose these drugs solely for causing weight loss. However, the ability of GLP-1s to regulate hunger and facilitate weight reduction without dietary intervention may undermine dietitians’ authority and long-held principles about “optimal nourishment” and “health.” This study explores how dietitians negotiate tensions among their professional beliefs about food, health, lifestyle, and weight loss in the context of GLP-1 treatments. Through semi-structured interviews with ten clinical dietitians at a major Israeli medical center, we examine how weight bias informs their attitudes toward these medications and whether they perceive them as a threat to their professional legitimacy. We hypothesize that most dietitians will express ambivalence about GLP-1s, not due to fat-acceptance principles but because these drugs challenge entrenched values such as “effort,” “hard work,” and “healthy eating”- these values themselves deeply rooted in weight bias and healthism. By analyzing these perspectives, this study contributes to critical discussions on the intersection of professional identity, weight stigma, and the medicalization of fatness.