Ozempic use among teens is skyrocketing — and parents are getting a stern warning from experts
Ozempic and other so-called 'miracle' weight-loss meds are being prescribed to teens in record numbers, with prescriptions among 12- to 17-year-olds jumping 50% in 2024, according to Truveta.
Another study from the Evernorth Research Institute, as reported by Reuters, clocked a whopping 68% rise in use among adolescents overall.
Advertisement
But while slim-down shots like Wegovy may shrink waistlines, some experts say parents should pump the brakes — before turning their kids into pin cushions.
Dr. Robert Siegel, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, didn't mince words, telling the news agency, 'These medications are likely to be needed for a very long time to maintain weight.'
He added that 'we only have a relatively short-term experience with them.'
Advertisement
In other words, we've barely scratched the surface on what these meds might do to growing bodies — and kids could be stuck on them for life.
The spike in teen prescriptions comes after Wegovy was approved for adolescents in late 2022.
Since then, families desperate to beat back the obesity epidemic — which affects 1 in 4 American teens — have turned to GLP-1 meds in growing numbers.
'It's promising that more young people are using these medications, but it's still a very small percentage of patients with severe obesity that are getting access to them,' Dr. Cate Varney, director of obesity medicine at the University of Virginia Health system, told Reuters.
Advertisement
Experts warn we're rolling the dice — these shots could mess with growing bodies, and kids might be stuck jabbing themselves for life.
nuzza11 – stock.adobe.com
'When lifestyle changes alone are insufficient, we need these additional tools.'
Still, the new tools come with plenty of fine print.
'The medications may need to be used indefinitely,' Siegel said, noting most pediatricians don't have the training — or equipment — to track long-term effects like muscle loss or developmental delays.
Advertisement
Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, insists there's no reason to panic.
Slim-down shots might melt fat fast — but docs say teens should ditch the syringes and stick to sweat, not semaglutide, for lasting results.
Corbis via Getty Images
The company said in a statement that semaglutide 'did not appear to affect growth or pubertal development' in teen clinical trials.
'We are confident in the proven safety and efficacy of our GLP-1 medicines,' Novo added.
Eli Lilly, whose drug Zepbound is in trials for teen use, echoed that stance, as per Reuters.
'There has been no evidence to date suggesting impairment in growth or metabolism,' the company said.
But that's not enough to calm critics. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed the trend as a sign of the 'overmedicalization of our kids,' citing a lack of long-term safety data and possible threats to metabolism and development.
Advertisement
With weight-loss shots looking more like a long-haul commitment than a quick fix, some doctors say teens should focus on old-school strategies before turning to syringes.
As The Post previously reported, a survey from digital healthcare platform Tebra found that 37% of young Americans in this age group are planning to ditch the gym and head to the pharmacy instead — turning to Ozempic, Wegovy and other GLP-1 drugs to hit their weight-loss goals.
While Gen Z is the most eager to jump on the injection bandwagon, older folks are actually more confident in the drugs' effectiveness — with 72% of baby boomers saying they work better than traditional methods.
Still, the craze has a dark side: Some users have turned to shady, even dangerous methods, including counterfeit meds and unprescribed use, triggering new fears about addiction and a lack of proper oversight.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
No meals, fainting nurses, dwindling baby formula: Starvation haunts Gaza hospitals
After months of warnings, international agencies, experts and doctors say starvation is now sweeping across Gaza amid restrictions on aid imposed by Israel for months. At least 56 Palestinians died this month of starvation in the territory, nearly half of the total of such deaths since the war began 22 months ago, according to data released Saturday by the Gaza Health Ministry. As starvation rises, medical institutions and staff, already struggling to treat war wounds and illness, are now grappling with rising cases of malnourishment. Advertisement Weak and dizzy, medics are passing out in the wards, where colleagues revive them with saline and glucose drips. Persistently short of basic tools such as antibiotics and painkillers, doctors are also running out of the special intravenous drips used to feed depleted patients. In all four hospitals, the doctors described how they are increasingly unable to save malnourished babies and are instead forced to simply manage their decline. The babies are too weak to be flooded with nutrients, which could overload their system and cause them to suffer 'refeeding syndrome,' which could kill them. Advertisement In some cases, the fluids that the doctors can safely give to the babies are not enough to prevent them from dying. 'I have seen ones that are imminently about to pass away,' said Dr. Ambereen Sleemi, an American surgeon who has been volunteering since early July at the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. The babies were brought to the hospital 'starving and malnourished,' Sleemi said in a phone interview Friday, 'and they haven't been able to get them back from the brink.' Dr. Nick Maynard, a British surgeon who volunteered at the same hospital until Wednesday, described the shock of seeing a skeletal infant who looked only days old, but was in fact 7 months. 'The expression 'skin and bones' doesn't do it justice,' Maynard said in a phone interview Friday. 'I saw the severity of malnutrition that I would not have thought possible in a civilized world. This is man-made starvation being used as a weapon of war and it will lead to many more deaths unless food and aid is let in immediately.' Asked for comment, COGAT, the Israeli military department that oversees aid to Gaza, said it 'continues to work in coordination with international actors to allow and facilitate the continued entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, in accordance with international law.' Late on Saturday night, the Israeli military began to drop airborne aid over northern Gaza, and said it would pause its military activity for several hours a day in key areas to make it easier to deliver aid by land. One-third of Palestinians in Gaza are forced to go without food for days in a row, the World Food Program said recently. Of the young children and pregnant women treated at clinics run by Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, roughly one-fourth are suffering from malnutrition, the medical aid group said last week. Advertisement Doctors say that many other people have likely died from different conditions and injuries that could have been cured or healed if the victims had not been so weakened by malnourishment. Starvation is causing more mothers to suffer miscarriages or give birth prematurely, to malnourished babies with weakened immune systems and medical abnormalities. 'The result is a rise in infections, dehydration and even immune collapse in infants,' said Dr. Hani al-Faleet, a pediatric consultant at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza. 'The immediate cause of death in some of these cases is simple: The baby doesn't get enough to eat, and neither does the mother.' Starvation has risen sharply since Israel's total blockade on food aid to Gaza between early March and late May, doctors and rights groups say. While Israel has since allowed food in, it introduced a new method of distribution that is flawed and dangerous, making it almost impossible for Palestinians to find food safely or affordably. Before March, food handouts were mainly distributed under a U.N.-led system from hundreds of points close to where people lived. Now, they are supplied from a handful of sites run by Israeli-backed private American contractors that, for most Palestinians in Gaza, can be reached only by walking for miles through Israeli military lines. Israeli soldiers have killed hundreds of people walking these routes, turning the daily search for food into a deadly trap. Advertisement Some food is still available from shops in Palestinian-run areas, but only at astronomic prices that are unaffordable to the largely unemployed civilian population. A kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of flour costs up to $30, and a kilogram of tomatoes costs roughly $30; meat and rice are largely unavailable on the open market. That has forced many Palestinians to routinely choose between two often fatal options: risk death by starvation, or risk death by gunfire to reach food aid sites that are likely to have run out of supplies by the time many arrive. Israel publicly says the new aid system is necessary to prevent Hamas from stealing the aid. But Israeli military officials have acknowledged to The New York Times that they have no proof that Hamas has systematically stolen food supplied by the United Nations, the main provider of aid to Gaza during most of the war. Israel says that its soldiers have fired 'warning shots' to quell unrest along the roads leading to the aid sites. Maynard and Sleemi described injuries that indicated soldiers had systematically fired at people's torsos. Israel also blames the United Nations for failing to deliver enough food to alleviate the situation. Israel said Saturday that it had destroyed up to 100 truckloads of food in recent months because aid groups could not distribute the food before it passed its use-by date. U.N. officials say that Israeli restrictions have made it difficult to send convoys through an active war zone. The food shortages add another challenge to an already very difficult environment for doctors. 'Some staff members have collapsed in operating rooms. Others have fainted in emergency wards because they have not received any proper food,' said Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. 'The burden on them is immense.' Advertisement Salam Barghouth, a 3-month-old baby girl treated for malnutrition last week at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, is among the youngest Palestinians failed by the new aid distribution system. Her mother, Hanin Barghouth, 22, is too weak to walk to the new distribution sites. Her father, Akram Barghouth, 27, has never managed to reach the sites before the aid runs out, Hanin Barghouth said. Like most Palestinians, the parents are jobless, rely on donations from relatives and friends and said they survive mostly on falafel balls that cost roughly 10 times their prewar price. As a result, Barghouth regularly skips meals and says she has lost 29 pounds, a fifth of her body weight, since the start of the war. She cannot produce enough breast milk to feed Salam, who was born April 21, after Israel started the blockade. At Salam's birth, according to al-Faleet, her doctor, she weighed roughly 6.6 pounds. Three months later, she weighs only 8.8 -- at least 3 pounds underweight, the doctor said. 'I'm breastfeeding her as much as I can, and when I can't, I give her formula -- but that's only when I have it,' Barghouth said. She is reaching the end of a container of formula that she said cost roughly $120, approximately 2 1/2 times the amount it costs outside Gaza. 'She came into the world during a war,' Barghouth added, 'and I'm fighting every day to keep her alive in it.' While Salam Barghouth can still access medical support in central Gaza, other starving children farther to the north are struggling to find it because aid groups have found it harder to bring supplies to them. Advertisement One of them is Yazan Abu al-Foul, 2, a child living with his family in a damaged building beside a beach in Gaza City. His ribs, spine and hip bones jut from his body. An aunt, Riwaa Abu al-Foul, said Yazan's family cannot find enough food to feed him and hospital staff in his area have told them that they cannot provide him with inpatient care. 'They told us there is a shortage of materials and equipment,' Abu al-Foul said in a phone interview Saturday. Doctors at hospitals in northern, central and southern Gaza described similar hardships in interviews Friday and Saturday. 'There are no nutritional supplements, no vitamins, no premature infant formula, no amino acid intravenous solutions -- nothing,' Abu Salmiya said. 'Their bodies need these basics, and without them they will die.' This article originally appeared in
The Hill
11 hours ago
- The Hill
The FDA must crack down on dangerous knockoff weight-loss drugs
For the first time, there is real hope in the fight against obesity. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics shows that adult obesity rates in the U.S. may finally be flatlining after annual increases since at least 2011. Obesity has long been understood to be the second leading cause of preventable death in America. Neither negative cultural attitudes about weight nor government messaging campaigns about diets have helped curb it. Yet like most insurmountable problems, we are innovating our way out of it. Experts believe a significant part of recent progress is due to powerful new medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, known as GLP-1 drugs. But just as these drugs are changing lives, a dangerous shadow market is growing alongside them. Compounded versions, which are copies of the original drugs made in smaller pharmacies, are flooding websites, med spas and clinics. These versions are often cheaper and easier to get than the real thing. They are also frequently untested, poorly regulated and, in many cases, illegal. The FDA has received more than 500 reports of serious side effects tied to compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide, the active ingredients in Ozempic and Mounjaro. Some patients have landed in the hospital after taking the wrong dose. That is not surprising when you consider that many of these vials come without proper labels or instructions. In 2023 alone, poison control centers received nearly 3,000 semaglutide-related calls, a huge jump from previous years. Many of those cases involved compounded or mislabeled versions of the medication. There are also serious concerns about what is actually in these products. The FDA has warned that some pharmacies are using different chemical forms of semaglutide, called salt forms, that are not approved for use and may not be safe. In April 2025, the agency seized counterfeit Ozempic from the U.S. supply chain after discovering that some vials contained the wrong ingredients or were contaminated with dangerous bacteria. These are not technical violations. They are real risks to people's health. During earlier shortages, compounding was allowed under special circumstances. But those shortages have ended, and the FDA has ordered most pharmacies to stop making these versions. Despite that, many continue to operate in legal gray zones or offer these drugs online. The harm does not stop with safety concerns. This trend also threatens future breakthroughs in obesity care. Companies like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly spent years and billions of dollars to develop these treatments. Now, they and others are working on new and even more effective drugs. When unapproved copies flood the market, it becomes harder to fund innovation. If investors cannot count on fair returns, the next generation of such medications may not make it out of the lab. Perhaps the biggest risk is to public trust. When someone has a bad experience with a fake or contaminated version, they may begin to doubt all weight loss innovations. That fear can ripple through the health system, making insurers and doctors more hesitant to support treatments that are helping with the genuine public health emergency of obesity. None of this means that compounding should disappear. It has a place when patients have specific medical needs that cannot be met by the approved versions, such as allergies or special dosing requirements. But what is happening now is not about rare exceptions. The FDA should continue cracking down on compounders that use unapproved ingredients or sell mislabeled products disguised as 'research chemicals.' At the same time, insurers and lawmakers need to make the real thing more affordable by removing middlemen such as pharmacy benefit managers. No one should have to choose between risking their health and going broke. We are finally making progress against a disease that affects nearly half the country and has stumped policymakers and advocates for decades. But progress is fragile. Unregulated versions of GLP-1s cannot be allowed to dominate the market. We risk undoing the progress reported by the CDC in the fight against obesity, and if we get this right, the trend could be reversed. That means longer lives for more people, lived in dignity and to the fullest.
Miami Herald
12 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Pepsi copies Coca-Cola to win back health-conscious consumers
Many Americans may not realize the importance of the gut microbiome, or the ecosystem of microbes that live in our intestines, and its impact on overall health. A 2023 Ipsos poll also revealed that many Americans have accepted to live with their digestive problems, with one in five saying they tried many things to resolve the issue, but haven't succeeded. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter About 18% of Americans confirm they have been diagnosed with hemorrhoids, and 15% say they have been diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). How is this possible? Food plays a significant role in our gut and overall health. However, it is not the only culprit for various illnesses, because poor nutrition is often associated with other less healthy behaviors. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are leading sources of added sugars in the American diet, and frequent consumption is associated with weight gain, Type 2 diabetes, kidney diseases, obesity, gout, a type of arthritis and more. However, more frequent consumers of sugary drinks tend to be those who don't exercise regularly, eat fast food often, smoke, don't sleep enough, and do not consume enough fruit, reports the CDC. Over the last couple of years, healthier soda alternatives have grown in popularity, due to the newer generations' focus on healthier lifestyles and mindful eating. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently started a major crackdown on various ingredients commonly found in food and beverages, with one of the goals being to eliminate synthetic dyes in food and drinks. Related: Scientists find massive anti-aging potential in magic mushrooms Kennedy Jr. also stressed that sodas are one of the biggest contributors to the poor health of many Americans. Under the White House's "Make America Healthy Again" initiative, pressure is mounting on soda giants to adapt their formulas. Just recently, it was announced that Coca-Cola might make a big change to its sodas- switching from high-fructose corn syrup to cane sugar. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola launched its own prebiotic soda under its juice brand Simply, and now its biggest rival, PepsiCo (PEP) , is making a similar move. More Retail: Target delights shoppers with savings event, 30% discountsUS government wants to make healthier eggs illegalPepsi issues stern message to employees after mass closures On July 21, the soda giant announced the launch of its Pepsi Prebiotic Cola with: 5 grams of cane sugar; Only 30 calories (a standard Pepsi serving contains about 150 calories);No artificial sweeteners; 3 grams of prebiotic fiber. Pepsi is launching prebiotic cola in two traditional flavors: Original Cola and Cherry Vanilla. Available in 12 oz. single cans for trial and 8-packs of 12 oz. cans, the new sodas will be available online this fall and at stores in early 2026. Pepsi Prebiotic Cola's launch comes a few months after the beverage titan announced the purchase of prebiotic soda brand Poppi for nearly $2 billion. Pepsi's move into a healthier beverages market was a way to win back customers. After all, according to a study by Harvard researchers, the number of young people who consumed at least one daily sugar-sweetened drink dropped to 61% from 80% between 2003 and 2016. Related: Target delights shoppers with savings event, 30% discounts Prebiotics are non-digestible, fermentable food ingredients that modify the composition or activity of gastrointestinal bacteria to benefit the host, according to the National Library of Medicine. Foods like cereals, breads, and snack foods have added prebiotics if you see on the food label some of the following terms: inulin, wheat dextrin, acacia gum, psyllium, polydextrose, GOS (galactooligosaccharides), FOS (fructooligosaccharides), and TOS (transgalactooligosaccharides). While prebiotic sodas can support your gut health, too much of it can cause gas, bloating, or diarrhea. Experts advise people who have gastrointestinal problems such as Crohn's or ulcerative colitis to avoid them. Samantha Nazareth, MD, board-certified gastroenterologist, told Woman's Health that prebiotic soda shouldn't replace plant-based foods like apples, garlic, artichokes, asparagus, and oats, which naturally contain gut-friendly fiber. The outlet consulted with experts to determine what health-conscious consumers should look for in prebiotic soda for the most benefits. They advised the following: Three grams of fiber per serving from ingredients like chicory root, inulin, and acacia fiberNo more than 10 grams of sugar Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
