We are in the middle of the “Ozempic era,” according to Hunter McGrady, a plus-size supermodel and a 31-year-old mother of two who has become the cover model for the 2024 anniversary edition of Sports Illustrated Magazine alongside Chrissy Teigen, Kate Upton, and Gayle King, 

“I’m just proud. I’m proud to be a part of SI Swimsuit,” McGrady says of her tenure with the franchise.

“I’m proud of the company as a whole, I’m proud of the imprint that they’ve made on society and they continue to make, and that would genuinely be my all-encompassing word: proud.”

For McGrady, the work she does for the publication is not only about beauty but also about fighting against an industry that promotes self-hatred as a way to monetize people’s insecurities.

“The more you hate yourself, the more that you find things to nitpick, the more money people are making off you,” she explained. 

“Everyone’s saying, ‘Look different. Be different. Wear this. Cover up this way. Drink this and you’ll be thinner.’ I call it the bullsh** meter.”

Plus-size Sports Illustrated model Hunter McGrady believes we’re in the middle of the “Ozempic era” as a result of self-hatred toward our bodies

Image credits: huntermcgrady

For Swimsuit Magazine, McGrady’s weight is an asset, and she has been encouraged to keep her body as it is, even in an environment where being skinny has not only been promoted but expected.

“What Sports Illustrated is doing — celebrating all bodies –—is so powerful. They’re doing the work. Especially right now when we’re entering this weird era, an Ozempic era, and just celebrating thinness,” she stated.

But what is the “Ozempic era” exactly?

Image credits: huntermcgrady

It refers to the ever-growing demand for a “miracle cure” to one of the modern era’s most prevalent health issues: obesity.

According to the World Health Organization, worldwide adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, and adolescent obesity has quadrupled. 

These numbers are even more worrying when it comes to the US, where the rate has tripled and continues to rise year by year. Experts believe that, if things keep going as they are, over half the population will become obese in ten years.

Goldman Sachs Research expects the obesity drug market to reach $100 billion by 2030, and Ozempic’s manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, has become Europe’s most valuable company, with a market value that exceeds that of its home country

Image credits: sportsillustrated

Ozempic, a brand name for the medication Semaglutide, was originally designed to help patients with type 2 diabetes improve their glycemic control. But in March 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration made a controversial, and profitable, decision by expanding the indication of the peptide to help obese people lose weight and reduce the risk of cardiovascular incidents.

Image credits: huntermcgrady

Ozempic works by first lowering blood sugar levels and then combining a slowing down of digestion with a reduction in appetite to achieve weight loss. It comes with a host of side effects, which include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, indigestion/heartburn, and dizziness, among others.

Image credits: huntermcgrady

The effectiveness of the treatment has turned it into a pop culture phenomenon after celebrities such as Elon Musk, Amy Schumer, and Oprah Winfrey have confessed to having used it at one point or another.

“Hating your body — and I have to be careful with saying this — but that’s the biggest money-maker,” explained McGrady, believing that the prevalence of the drug stems more from self-esteem issues than proper health concerns.

The model is not far off the mark, as in 2023, Ozempic prescriptions surpassed 9 million, leading to shortages that impacted the recipients the peptide was designed for in the first place, type 2 diabetics.

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