Health & Bio2 min read
Health & Bio
GLP-1 weight-loss drug use in young US children remains rare but rising fast, study finds
A study led by researchers at NYU Langone Health found that prescriptions of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, such as Saxenda, Wegovy and Zepbound, for U.S. children under 12 with obesity remain rare but were 310 times higher…
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists — a class of weight-loss drugs that includes Saxenda, Wegovy and Zepbound — remain rarely prescribed to U.S. children under 12 with obesity, but their use is rising fast, a study led by researchers at NYU Langone Health has found. Prescriptions for children ages 8 to 11 with obesity and without diabetes were 310 times higher in June 2026 than in 2019, when the drugs were first prescribed to this age group.
Published online Sept. 4 in the journal Pediatrics, the study found the share of children ages 8 to 11 with obesity and without diabetes who were prescribed GLP-1s rose from 0.03% in 2019 to 9.3% in 2026, a 310-fold increase over 7.5 years; 20,282 such children were prescribed the drugs during that time. GLP-1 prescriptions overall were less common among children with obesity ages 8 to 11 (0.6%) than among adolescents with obesity ages 12 to 17 (0.9%), though guidelines allow their use in children as young as 8.
Most children prescribed the drugs had (93.7%), and 65.2% had at least one obesity-related illness, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure or sleep apnea; a quarter were . Lead investigator Babak J. Orandi, MD, Ph.D., an obesity medicine specialist and associate professor of surgery and medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said GLP-1 use in young children is accelerating rapidly though absolute numbers remain low, and that not prescribing the drugs carries long-term risks such as diabetes, hypertension and liver disease later in life.
Children with obesity in upper-income communities were 55% more likely to be prescribed GLP-1 medications than others, the study found. Co-senior author Allan B. Massie, Ph.D., of NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said prescribing patterns already show a growing divergence in access to the drugs.
Clinical trials of GLP-1 medications in children as young as 6 with obesity are already underway, the researchers said.
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The story so far
- Kentucky Trial Tests Whether Semaglutide Can Reverse Heart Damage From Childhood Obesity
- GLP-1 Drugs Add 7% Hair-Loss Risk in Genetically Susceptible Men, NYU Study Finds
- GLP-1 weight-loss drug use in young US children remains rare but rising fast, study finds
#GLP-1 drugs#childhood obesity#NYU Langone Health#Pediatrics journal#weight-loss medication
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