Which is good news for longtime dieters, but not so much for companies whose sole mission is selling weight-loss plans and prepared meals to millions of overweight Americans.
In April, WW purchased Sequence, a telehealth subscription service that connects patients with doctors who can prescribe obesity and diabetes drugs. “You need to read between the lines to find it, but it’s there: A tacit admission that the plans they were pushing didn’t actually work – at least, not long term, for the vast majority of clients. WW and JC were peddling low-cal snake oil.
“The issue is that it still sends a message that joining a weight loss program is the answer; we must reframe overall health as the main goal. There is much more to health than just weight.” WW, the new name for Weight Watchers, has recently seen a tiny uptick after moving into diet drugs but its value has collapsed as dieting changes radically.