Emily Allgair, Editor

With celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk and Amy Schumer admitting to using Ozempic for weight loss, the injectable medication has quickly become a household name – but at what cost? Should our youngest, most vulnerable population be subject to this drug’s latest craze?

In a shocking turn of events, not even Sesame Street is safe from the allure that Ozempic has created. In recent weeks, some online skeptics have been drawing attention to Big Bird, accusing him of using the drug to become just “Bird.”

Approved by the FDA in 2017, Ozempic was originally intended as a Type 2 Diabetes drug with a common side effect being weight loss while its competitor Wygovy has been specifically approved for weight loss. Both Ozempic and Wygovy are name brands of the drug semaglutide, which imitates GP-1. GP-1, in being the hormone released by the body after eating, stimulates insulin secretion and sparks movement of glucose in cells, therefore creating energy. (This is a scientific way of saying that the drug mimics the feeling of satisfaction and satiation.)

In a double-blind trial, it was reported that the use of this drug resulted in an approximate 15% loss in body weight after 16 months. And, on top of the easy weight-loss, those taking this medication have been seen to have lower risks of heart attacks, strokes and death due to cardiovascular disease when injected on a weekly basis. 

So you might be asking, what’s the big deal? Maybe Big Bird has been silently struggling with losing and keeping off the weight, so why not give Ozempic a try? 

Some critics of his alleged decision fear that it introduces the idea of unhealthy lifestyle choices to some of the nation’s youngest television viewers, while others simply don’t support the secrecy of it all. 

Either way, this has yet to be confirmed. But, if you’re noticing less feathers on Big Bird these days, you are not alone. And who knows? Maybe in a couple of weeks we will know Sesame Street’s main characters as Elmo, Oscar, and, now, just Bird.