Throughout her sports career, Serena Williams amassed 73 titles, including 23 Grand Slam victories, and earned nearly $95 million in prize money. However, despite her overwhelming dominance on the court, the player who many consider to be 'the GOAT' ('Greatest of All Time') in women's tennis never escaped hurtful comments about her physique.
"Living in a society where most people are thin is tough," the tennis player stated in an interview while still active, a confession that speaks volumes about what one of the greatest athletes in history truly felt inside, honored with the Princess of Asturias Award in 2025.
Today, the youngest of the Williams sisters is back in the news due to a matter related to her body after starring in a controversial promotional video where she explains how she managed to "lose 14 kilograms" and "achieve her goals" thanks to GLP-1 injections, marketed by a company in which her husband, Alexis Ohanian, is an investor.
In an interview published in 'Vogue' on August 21, Serena herself explained that, after trying everything, she turned to GLP-1 to try to win a battle with the scale that 'intensified' after giving birth to her second daughter in 2023. "I have spent my whole life in the gym, training, running, doing HIIT, dancing... Doing everything imaginable. However, at a certain point, I could never lose more weight. That's when I decided it was time to try something different and I started with GLP-1 with Ro."
With her testimony, that of an elite athlete accustomed to giving her all on and off the court, the former tennis player hoped to help end the demonization that, in her opinion, those who inject this drug endure. "I think many people stigmatize this medication, saying it's 'for lazy people', that if 'you really make an effort, you don't need it', but I know, from my own experience, that it's not always like that. Sometimes, you need help. Your story is your story, and it's okay to make the decision if you want to. I did it, and I'm very happy with it."
While Serena Williams is so happy because, as she herself assures, she finally has the body she always dreamed of having (highlighting the immense pressure that women - even the most decorated female athletes in history - face to fit into beauty standards that are as relentless as they are unattainable), there are those who harshly criticize her for contributing to normalizing the casual use of a drug designed for very specific medical purposes with the aim of losing weight for purely aesthetic reasons.
Are we trivializing the use of weight-loss drugs? Dr. Cristina Petratti, an Obesity and Nutrition specialist and member of the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (SEEDO), leaves no room for doubt. "Yes, they are trivialized when presented as 'aesthetic shortcuts'. They are medical treatments for a chronic disease (obesity) and require evaluation, monitoring, and regulation. Using them without indication or buying them outside official channels puts health at risk."
As an attending endocrinologist with 23 years of experience and a researcher of these molecules, Cristóbal Morales, a member of SEEDO, clarifies that "these drugs are effective and safe, approved in patients with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity with conditions associated with this condition. They have unprecedented potency, so they must always be prescribed according to approved indications in Spain by specialists who ensure proper monitoring of their progress."
Morales emphasizes, "This is not an aesthetic issue. It's health. Obesity is a significant disease with over 250 complications that reduce years and quality of life and require management by a specialized physician and multidisciplinary teams."
Using these types of drugs to shed a few pounds quickly is "an 'off-label' option, and I do not recommend it. We must separate aesthetics from health and prescribe treatment if it improves cardio-metabolic risk, liver health, sleep apnea, mobility, and quality of life, as long as the person is ready to embrace sustainable changes. In my case, I always screen for eating disorders and work without stigma or weight-centric focus. If the goal is to fit into a certain size, it's not a medical indication."
What requirements should be considered for their prescription? "When there is clinical criteria: BMI 30, or 27 with comorbidities (diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, NAFLD, etc.), or in adolescents 12 with obesity, always integrated into a habits plan, with screening for Eating Disorders and after an assessment of the benefit/safety relationship and contraindications."
And at this point, it's worth remembering that both Ozempic and similar medications have unwanted effects, "such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea/constipation, etc.," and there is a long list of risks to monitor: "Cholelithiasis/cholecystitis, pancreatitis, dehydration with acute kidney injury, delayed gastric emptying/ileus and aspiration under anesthesia, hypoglycemia if combined with insulin/sulfonylureas, worsening of retinopathy in diabetics. It is contraindicated if there is MEN2/MTC and should be avoided during pregnancy (discontinue two months before)."
To what extent do campaigns led by celebrities or influencers contribute to normalizing these types of medications without considering their real indications? "The visibility of celebrities can trivialize and promote self-medication or the purchase of unapproved products. I do not comment on specific cases; I simply remind that the indication is medical, and dispensing should be through official channels," Petratti asserts.
"This is not magic but a drug that, as such, needs to be under medical supervision and yields quite good results, but always with a positive health perspective," adds Dr. Morales, who takes the opportunity to emphasize the stigma that, in a way, patients using these drugs are facing. "I believe that the media is stigmatizing people who use this medication because they truly need it, and this should stop. Or are people blamed for taking a pill to regulate blood pressure? This issue should be addressed as a disease that requires diagnosis, treatment, and supervision by a specialist physician," he concludes.