Children Prescribed GLP-1 Drugs Face Major Rise Since 2019

With the rise of GLP-1 drugs in America, millions have opted to use products from Ozempic to Wegovy to help with weight loss. Normally used among the adult population, GLP-1 drugs have now begun trickling down to children.

According to NYU Langone Health’s reporting, the numbers have increased “over the last seven years” when it comes to “GLP-1 medication use in children ages 8 to 11.”

Children in this age range were prescribed GLP-1 drugs at 0.03% in 2019, but it’s now increased to 9.3% as of 2026, marking an almost 31,000% spike. This is even though the FDA hasn’t given any official authorization for widespread use of the drug for weight loss.

“Most children prescribed GLP-1s had severe obesity, (which is 93.7% of the Body Mass Index), meaning that they had more weight and body fat than most other of their peers,” according to NYU Langone Health.

Going forward, will be long-term research into how GLP-1 drugs will affect those being prescribed them at a young age.

Per a GLP1 Clinic article on long-term research it’s still being determined if, “10-20 years of continuous high-dose GLP-1 exposure could increase MTC (medullary thyroid carcinoma) risk in humans.” 

The study did acknowledge a far larger sample size would be necessary to determine whether or not this was the case as the condition is rare amongst people and more common in rats.

Dr. Babak J. Orandi, the study’s lead investigator and associate professor in the Departments of Surgery and Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told the New York Post, that he is more worried about underlying factors. 

“In context, this is a very small number,” Orandi explained. “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.”