Children as young as 6 years old may benefit from obesity treatment drugs, according to a new international study, which suggests that these medications may be effective and relatively safe even at young ages.
The researchers analyzed the results of nine clinical studies involving 756 children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years, treated with GLP-1 drugs for obesity and not for diabetes.
The results showed that the children lost an average of about 5 kilograms. While those who took semaglutide – the active substance of the drugs Wegovy and Ozempic – lost an average of about 18 kilograms.
Most studies had previously used liraglutide and exenatide, but these medications have now been largely replaced by semaglutide and tirzepatide, known by the trade name Mounjaro.
Currently, none of these drugs are approved for children under 12 outside of clinical trials. In the UK, Wegovy can only be used privately for children over 12 and is now also available in tablet form.
The study, led by the University of Western Ontario in Canada and presented at the International Congress on Obesity in Mexico City, included data from studies conducted in various countries, including the US and Germany.
The children were followed for up to 68 weeks. In addition to weight loss, researchers noted a decrease in blood pressure, a decrease in heart rate, and an improvement in quality of life.
According to the study's lead author, Dr. Manpreet Kaur Oberoi, GLP-1 drugs were "markedly effective in reducing body mass index, weight, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure, while maintaining a manageable safety profile."
However, he stressed that studies for the 6–12 age group are still ongoing and that approval for use in younger children will depend on the final results and the assessment of the benefit-risk ratio by regulatory authorities.
Since 2021, more than 6,000 children have been treated at specialist obesity clinics in Britain, where some of the patients over the age of 12 have received weight loss drugs.
Other studies presented earlier this year have shown that these drugs not only help with weight loss, but also significantly reduce absenteeism from work for health reasons and can reduce pressure on the healthcare system.
Experts estimate that expanding their use could avoid millions of visits to the family doctor and significantly reduce emergency room admissions for obese patients.
Currently, around two in three adults in the UK are overweight or obese, while over two million people use GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, mostly purchased privately. In recent weeks, slimming tablets that work by the same mechanism as the injections have also been launched on the market, and their use is expected to grow rapidly.
