More kids age 8 to 11 are being prescribed weight loss drugs: study

The number of children taking GLP-1 drugs has exploded in the years since Ozempic hit the market.A new study published today by NYU Langone found that GLP-1 prescriptions given to kids aged 8 to 11 were 310 times higher in June 2026 than they were in 2019.This is despite the fact that no GLP-1 medication is FDA-approved for use in kids under age 12.However, doctors can prescribe the drug off-label to younger kids (aged 8 to 11) in extreme casesDespite the massive increase in terms of percentage, the number of children under age 12 with a prescription for drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy is still relatively low: just 20,282 during the 7.5-year study period.Dr. Babak J.

Orandi, PhD, the lead investigator an an associate professor in the Departments of Surgery and Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, put the number in perspective.“In context, this is a very small number,” he told The Post, pointed to data suggesting that about 3.3 million 8-11-year olds in the US have obesity.“Against that denominator, 20,282 GLP-1 children receiving prescriptions represents a tiny fraction of children eligible for treatment.

While the number receiving treatment is very small, uptake is accelerating quickly.”To Orandi, the bigger problem isn’t that kids are on skinny jabs — it’s that there are so many kids with obesity in the first place.“I’m less concerned about the uptake of GLP-1 treatment than the underlying factors driving this trend,” he said.:About 20% of children have obesity and most of the children in this study who were prescribed a medication already had a complication of obesity (prediabetes, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea).“The concern isn’t that more children are being treated; rather, it’s that so many need to be, so many already have complications of obesity.”GLP-1 drugs could help obese children get their weigh under control and support blood sugar regulation — reducing their risk of things like diabetes, hig...