Content warning: This piece discusses eating disorders, GLP-1 usage, and weight loss. Megan*, 23, was in the kitchen of her college house one morning when her roommate took out a syringe and injected herself with something. She revealed to Megan that she had just started taking Ozempic to lose weight.
Megan has been in eating disorder recovery for almost three years, and says the moment was triggering. “A part of me was almost jealous,” the James Madison University alum tells Her Campus. “It truthfully made me wish that I could just stick a needle in my thigh once a week and become skinny.”
GLP-1s are used to treat medical conditions like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and Wegovy was FDA-approved for weight loss management in 2021. And now, college-aged women are taking GLP-1s at higher rates than ever before: According to a May 2024 study by Michigan Medicine, the use of weight loss drugs is rapidly increasing among young women aged 18–25, with a 659% surge in usage observed between 2020 and 2023.
As GLP-1s and weight loss medications continue to be prescribed to young women, they’re also becoming part of everyday campus life: discussed between classes, spotted in shared refrigerators, and referenced casually among friends — or, in Megan’s case, roommates.
I’ve found myself saying, ‘Well, my roommate [takes GLP-1s]; maybe I should too.
Megan, 23
And, for college women navigating eating disorder recovery, the prevalence of weight loss drugs isn’t just disheartening — it’s disruptive to their healing. “I’ve found myself saying, ‘Well, my roommate [takes GLP-1s]; maybe I should too,’” Megan says. “I’ve tried really hard to embrace my natural body, but the thought of just being able to give myself a shot and magically lose weight just feels so easy.”
Johanna Kandel, the founder and CEO of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, says weight loss medications are one of the most talked-about topics among young women contacting The Alliance’s helpline. “Our position here is not to criticize humans that are living in a world that’s very diet-centric and fatphobic,” she says. “I would say in about one in five calls on the helpline, people are bringing up [weight-loss medications]. No matter where you go, you cannot avoid the conversation around it.”
Besides seeing peers take medication for weight loss, college women are also being exposed to GLP-1s through the media. According to 2025 data, GLP-1 medications accounted for $360.9 million of TV advertising spending among the top 10 prescription drugs in early 2025. Additionally, at the time of publication, there are over 1 million posts across the tags #glp1, #glp1community, #glp, and vb#glp1forweightloss on TikTok.
It’s hard to stay in strong eating disorder recovery when everywhere I look, I see an ad, post, or person talking about GLP-1s and extreme weight loss.
Cami Nelson, 20
For University of St. Thomas student Nyah Todd, 22, this media visibility has caused her self-esteem to regress as she navigates college life and eating disorder recovery simultaneously. “I’ve followed many influencers and celebrities over the years, and watching them seemingly shrink overnight into people I sometimes barely recognize can be discouraging, and impact how I view my own body,” she says. “I spent years redefining health for myself, so seeing extremely thin celebrities and constant advertisements has made me second-guess my progress, and brings me back to when I was deeply in my eating disorder.”
Cami Nelson, a 20-year-old Antelope Valley College student, feels similarly. After spending the better part of two years in hospitals and treatment centers, Nelson has been in eating disorder recovery for four years. “I mostly hear about GLP and weight loss drug use online and through social media, as well as in conversations with friends and family or classmates at school,” she says. “It’s hard to stay in strong eating disorder recovery when everywhere I look, I see an ad, post, or person talking about GLP-1s and extreme weight loss.”
The visibility doesn’t just cause these women to second-guess their progress. In some cases, it can lead to relapse. In 2022, Sarah Ellani-Smith was hospitalized for heart and liver failure, which were caused by her 10-year-long battle with anorexia. Then, in 2025, the 21-year-old University of New Haven alum says she took weight loss medication after seeing “pro-ana” and “skinnytok” accounts on social media provide “step-by-step instructions” on how to bypass weight requirements to obtain the medication online. “It felt impossible to resist when even the professional athletes I looked up to [as a child] were praising these drugs as a positive lifestyle tool,” she says. “[It] essentially handed me a socially sanctioned way to fuel a major relapse in my anorexia.”
So many times, I’ve heard girls talk about wanting to get them to lose weight before going home for break. GLP-1s are brought up in that context as a way to manage appetite or reduce temptation.
Sarah Ellani-Smith, 21
Ellani-Smith says the conversation around GLP-1s also takes place casually around her campus. “[It’s] constant in dining halls — always tied to anxiety around the feared ‘Freshman 15,’” she says. “So many times, I’ve heard girls talk about wanting to get them to lose weight before going home for break. GLP-1s are brought up in that context as a way to manage appetite or reduce temptation.”
Desiree Carroll, founder and licensed professional counselor at Lakewood Holistic Counseling, says college women in recovery face even more strain due to the structure of university life itself. “There are many stressors that occur in college, like being away from home for the first time, managing courses, meeting new people, and wanting to belong,” she says. “Adding in another layer — the popularity of GLP-1s — creates another stressor. Living on a college campus in close proximity to others and the use of social media can make it hard to escape conversations about diets, bodies, and GLP-1s.”
Even with those pressures and constant conversations, many students say recovery on campus is still possible — though, it often requires intentional boundaries. For Nelson, that means being diligent about the content that comes across her screen. “I set screen time limits, guidelines, and content limits for myself that help make sure I am staying present in my reality and not getting trapped in my phone,” she says. “I also talk about my concerns about the GLP-1 rise in therapy or with my friends and family.”
For me, being ‘healthy’ is not about appearance — it’s about how I feel internally, and how that translates into the way I live my life.
Nyah Todd, 22
Ellani-Smith supports her recovery similarly. “I’ve had to get incredibly intentional about my digital environment by ruthlessly unfollowing any ‘wellness’ or athlete accounts that frame weight suppression as an achievement,” she says. “I also prioritize weekly therapy sessions where I can dismantle the ‘pro-ana’ logic I was exposed to, and replace it with a focus on how my body actually feels rather than just how it looks.”
Thomas says returning to her values helps her stay grounded during difficult moments. “A key part of nurturing my mental health has been identifying my values and making choices that align with them,” she says. “While I still experience difficult and triggering moments, I consistently return to those values. For me, being ‘healthy’ is not about appearance — it’s about how I feel internally, and how that translates into the way I live my life.”
And despite being in immediate proximity to weight loss medication, Megan leans on the strength she’s built through her eating disorder recovery. “When I see others promoting GLP-1s, I just tell myself that these people all have reasons for doing so,” she says. “I’ve been telling myself that I’m healthy, happy, and beautiful, and that’s all that matters.”
If you or someone you know has an eating disorder and needs help, call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at 1-800-931-2237, text 741741, or chat online with a Helpline volunteer.
*Names have been changed