BMI is calculated by taking a person’s weight and dividing it by the square of their height – a technique that isn’t the most accurate for assessing body composition. But it is valuable for classifying millions of people where more accurate techniques such as skinfold measurements are not feasible.

Being overweight or obese greatly increases risks for other significant health complications, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, stroke and asthma. In fact, obesity is responsible for nearly half of the total cost of chronic disease in the U.S. Studies show that obesity also leads to a decrease in life expectancy.

Recent data suggests that the direct medical costs of a person being obese in the U.S. is more than US$2,500 annually. And researchers estimate that the total cost of chronic diseases due to obesity in the U.S. is more than $1.7 trillion annually, which is 9.3% of the country’s gross domestic product. Predictions show the annual cost of obesity will be more than $4.3 trillion worldwide by 2030.

Current list prices for Mounjaro and Ozempic top $1,000 per month for off-label use, meaning for weight loss and not for type 2 diabetes. In this scenario, which is becoming more common, insurance companies are less likely to cover the medication.

Since most Americans can’t afford these drugs, it’s reasonable to ask whether more should be done to decrease costs and increase access.

Still, these new drugs that can aid in weight loss present a dilemma for doctors and other health care providers: Where do they fit in with the decadeslong gospel of healthy eating and increasing physical activity?

Traditionally the most effective mechanism for weight loss has been a twofold lifestyle intervention: dietary modification resulting in an overall caloric deficit combined with 250 minutes or more of moderate-intensity exercise per week.

Research has long since established that being physically active improves mental health, including memory, depressive symptoms and mood, as well as immune function and bone health. Being active also reduces the risks of developing conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

But given that more than two-thirds of the U.S. adult population is now overweight or obese, Americans are clearly not meeting these guidelines. The most recent data shows that only a quarter of adults are getting the necessary aerobic and muscle strengthening activity each week.

For all these reasons, many clinical recommendations now suggest the use of anti-obesity medications as a primary means of addressing overweight and obesity.

The health care field now has a new strategy for meaningful weight loss, but there are still more questions than answers.

Will losing weight with only drugs still provide these same health benefits? What about the long-term efficacy of using these medications? Are there complications we don’t know about yet because we simply haven’t had these drugs available long enough to study? Researchers are also just beginning to understand what happens when you stop using these new weight loss medications.

Given the gravity of the obesity epidemic and the health costs that come with it, I believe the potential risks of using these drugs for weight loss may be worth the reward of lessening the burden on the health care system and improving the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

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Wesley Dudgeon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.