More children under 12 in U.S. are being prescribed weight-loss drugs, study finds — Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials,
Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
The View From India
Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.
First Day First Show
News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.
Today's Cache
Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.
Science For All
The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!
Data Point
Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers
THEdge
At the cutting edge of education and careers
Health Matters
Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there
Gender Agenda
Stories from beyond the binary.
The Hindu On Books
Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.
Overall, 20,282 children received GLP-1 drugs during the study period – most often, Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. Doctors also prescribed ‌Novo’s Saxenda and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound |Image used for representational purpose only
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Prescriptions for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs among children under 12 in the U.S. have risen more ​than 300-fold since 2019 as doctors seek new, effective treatments for ‌younger patients with obesity, according to a study published ​on Friday.
The study, which included more than ⁠3.5 million children aged between eight and 11 years with obesity but not diabetes, found that prescriptions for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs rose ‌from 0.03% in 2019 to 9.3% as of June.
Although the drugs are not approved for ‌use in children under 12 years, clinical guidelines ‌allow ⁠the medications to be used for obesity in ⁠children as young as eight years old in certain cases.
94% of the children prescribed GLP-1s had severe obesity, and about 65% had at ​least one related condition, ‌such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea.