A Matter of Fat

What Happens When Ozempic Costs £10?

A Matter of Fat

Show Notes

Who gets to be healthy when nutritious food, time, exercise and weight-loss medication all cost money?

A Matter of Fat is a podcast for anyone who has no idea what they think about weight, bodies and the rapidly changing conversation around them.

Hosted by journalist Rose Stokes, who brings 30 years of lived experience with weight and obesity, and Dr Giles Yeo, a University of Cambridge scientist who has spent three decades studying why people are small, medium or large in our food environment, this podcast brings together lived experience and science without pretending to have all the answers.

In episode four, Rose and Giles ask whether good health is becoming something only wealthier people can afford.

We cover: • Why eating healthily can take up a far greater percentage of a lower-income household’s budget • The stark link between childhood obesity and socioeconomic inequality • How time, stress, sleep, location and access to safe spaces shape our health • The £100 to £350 monthly cost of accessing GLP-1 medication privately • Why high prices are pushing some people towards unsafe workarounds • How expiring patents could dramatically reduce the cost of these medications • Why access to medication must also include proper mental health, nutritional and clinical support • Why women make up the vast majority of current GLP-1 users • What needs to change before these drugs become widely accessible • Plus, Rose rates the years she spent exercising in almost every waking moment

Transparency:

Professor Giles Yeo consults and speaks for Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Amgen, and has received research grant funding from Novo Nordisk and Amgen. He is joining Amgen's cardiometabolic scientific advisory board, and also consults for Voy. Industry funds most obesity research and these relationships are typical for senior researchers in the field.

Rose Stokes has taken GLP-1 medication and writes about weight and the pharmaceutical industry as a freelance journalist.

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Rose Stokes: https://www.instagram.com/rosestokes/

Giles Yeo: https://www.instagram.com/gilesyeo/

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More from A Matter of Fat

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Oct 12, 2026

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Oct 5, 2026

Big Food helped create the obesity crisis. Should the same industry be allowed to profit from the solution?

Sep 21, 2026

Episode 3: GLP-1 medications might quieten food noise, but has the noise around weight-loss jabs become impossible to escape?

Sep 14, 2026

What happens after the dramatic “after” photo? A Matter of Fat is a podcast for anyone who has no idea what they think about weight, bodies and the rapidly changing conversation around them.

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