Teens, Young Adults Taking Weight-Loss Drugs at Record Levels

A new study shows that the number of young people taking popular weight-loss drugs skyrocketed in just three years.

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Adults aren’t the only ones participating in the Wegovy and Ozempic trend.

A new study shows the number of young adults and adolescents taking the popular weight-loss drugs jumped nearly 600 percent from 2020 to 2023.

These drugs belong to a class called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and have soared in popularity over the past few years.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association by researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School and the Yale University School of Medicine, examined data from the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database to determine the national uptake of GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs among adolescents and young adults. The database records prescriptions from 93.6 percent of retail pharmacies in the United States, providing a detailed snapshot of medication usage nationwide. The data show that nearly 31,000 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 and more than 162,000 young adults between 18 and 25 took the drug in 2023.

The study showed that the number of 12-to-25-year-olds using any GLP-1 receptor agonist, including medications approved to manage Type 2 diabetes, increased from about 8,700 per month in 2020 to more than 60,000 per month in 2023, marking a nearly 594.4 percent increase.

The use rate rose fivefold among adolescent boys and almost sixfold among girls. Among young adult males, the uptick in use was close to fivefold, and over sixfold among young women.

Who Pays for the Drugs, and Who Prescribes Them?

According to the study, Medicaid paid for 48 percent of GLP-1 drugs for adolescents, while commercial health insurance carriers paid for 43.7 percent. Medicare covered 6.5 percent of the drugs, while 1.8 percent of adolescents paid for the drug out of pocket. For young adults, commercial health insurance providers paid for over two-thirds of prescriptions, while Medicare covered 26.3 percent. About 4 percent of costs were covered by Medicare, and 2.7 percent were paid out of pocket.

Endocrinologists were the medical professionals most likely to prescribe the drugs to adolescents (32.7 percent), while over one in four adolescents received their prescriptions from nurse practitioners. One in three young adults received prescriptions from nurse practitioners, while family medicine doctors prescribed 22.9 percent of the drugs.

“Increases in [GLP-1 receptor agonists] dispensing were greatest for females, highlighting the importance of educating patients and prescribers on sex-specific safety risks,” such as pregnancy risks, the researchers wrote.

The data indicated that in 2023, the GLP-1 receptor agonists most commonly prescribed for young adults were injectable semaglutides (e.g., Ozempic, Wegovy). For adolescents, the most prescribed drugs were dulaglutides (Trulicity), exenatides (Byetta), and liraglutides (Saxenda).

Increased Use Aligns With Recent Treatment Guidelines

The increase in prescriptions coincides with 2023 treatment recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that suggest obese children and teens be treated early and assertively. Comprehensive treatment options include identifying comorbidities, addressing social drivers of obesity, nutrition and physical activity, setting goals for reducing body mass index (BMI), and surgery and medication if necessary, the AAP wrote.

About 20 percent of American children are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Alongside obesity comes additional health issues, including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Obesity is also a financial burden, costing the U.S. health care system nearly $173 billion annually.

In December 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Wegovy as a weight-loss treatment for adolescents aged 12 and older with a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for their sex and age. It was initially approved for adults with obesity in June 2021.

Researchers from the JAMA study believe more caution and communication might be needed when prescribing the drug to young people. The long-term safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of using the drugs to treat this population is necessary, they said.

“Efforts to promote safe and appropriate prescribing should include endocrinologists, family medicine physicians, and nurse practitioners given their prominent roles” in prescribing these medications, the researchers wrote.