GLP-1 prescriptions for young children with obesity rose 310-fold but stayed rare
GLP-1 prescriptions for children aged 8 to 11 with obesity rose 310-fold between 2019 and 2026, an NYU Langone analysis of more than 3.5 million children's records found, though only 0.6 percent had ever received one. Prescribing concentrated in children with severe obesity or related illness and skewed toward higher-income communities, and the researchers say longer follow-up is still needed to clarify the medications' long-term risks and benefits in young children.
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GLP-1 prescriptions for young children with obesity rose 310-fold but stayed rare
A team led by Babak J. Orandi at NYU Langone Health tracked prescriptions of GLP-1 receptor agonists, the drug class that includes Wegovy, Saxenda and Zepbound, for children aged 8 to 11 with obesity and without diabetes, using Epic Cosmos electronic health record data covering more than 3.5 million children across 2,067 hospitals and 47,100 clinics between January 2019 and June 2026. Prescriptions rose from 0.03 percent of eligible children in 2019 to 9.3 percent in 2026, a 310-fold increase over 7.5 years, and 20,282 children were prescribed the drugs during that period. Even after that rise, only 0.6 percent of the study's 3.52 million children had ever received a prescription, a lower share than the 0.9 percent recorded among adolescents aged 12 to 17, and no obesity medication is currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for children under 12.[1], [2]
Prescriptions concentrated in children with severe obesity and related illness, and skewed toward higher-income areas
Physicians appear to be reserving the medications for children facing the greatest health risks: 93.7 percent of the children who received a GLP-1 had severe obesity and 65.2 percent had at least one obesity-related condition such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure or sleep apnea, with the highest prescribing rates among children who already had prediabetes. Orandi's team also found that children with obesity living in higher-income communities were 55 percent more likely to be prescribed a GLP-1 than those in more vulnerable communities, and that older children and girls were prescribed more often than younger children and boys, a pattern the researchers said may signal emerging inequities in access to obesity treatment. Orandi told Newsweek that diet, activity and behavioural support remain the starting point and GLP-1s should be an add-on rather than used alone, and that an inadequate response to those measures, or any weight-related health sign, is a reasonable reason for parents to consult a pediatrician.[1], [2]
Researchers say the data are reassuring but reflect prescriptions, not confirmed long-term use
The study drew on electronic health record prescriptions, which do not necessarily show whether a medication was dispensed, taken as prescribed or used long-term, and the Epic Cosmos database, while extensive, is not a representative sample of every US health system. Orandi said the preliminary data look reassuring but that longer follow-up is needed to clarify the risks and benefits, weighed against the well-established harms of untreated childhood obesity, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea and joint problems. He added that children who bring their weight into a healthier range by adulthood end up with the same cardiometabolic risks as peers who never had obesity, calling that reversibility of risk a strong argument in favour of treatment. The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, come as professional guidelines increasingly support considering GLP-1 use in younger patients with obesity-related complications.[1]
