The weight loss drug Wegovy quickly became popular for helping many patients, including teenagers, manage their weight.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it for use in patients under 18 years of age at the end of 2022.
At UNC Health, Dr. Jennifer McCauley works closely with patients who have weight management issues.
Although most of her patients are adults, McCauley said she sometimes discusses starting weight loss medications with younger patients.
“When you start a medication for weight loss, I think it’s really important to have a long conversation about why you’re doing it, what you’re trying to accomplish, and what happens when you stop the medication,” McCauley said. Told.
Doctors said these conversations and discussions about body positivity are especially important to have with younger patients.
“Rather than putting too much emphasis on weight or even BMI, it’s really important that teens really understand and respond to where they stand in terms of their own health goals,” McCauley said. says. “Also, when you work with teens, you have to make sure they’re comfortable talking about it in the first place.”
According to recent data provided to WRAL News by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, from January 1, 2023 to January 22, 2024, there were 60 Wegovy paid claims for Medicaid recipients under the age of 18 .
Total claims during the same period were $82,627.
This means that only 0.004% of the Medicaid population currently uses Wegovy. However, these data points do not take into account additional teens who may be prescribed the drug through private insurance.
“I think they’re probably being used more in adults, mainly because there’s some comfort in some of these drugs in treating diabetes,” McCauley said. “They are in many ways the same as what we use for weight loss, so we have a little more experience using them for diabetes and seeing their effects on people.”
When considering weight loss drugs for patients of any age, Dr. McCauley considers several things, including whether the patient is already trying to achieve weight loss goals through other means, such as exercise or dietary changes. He said he would put it in.
“We have a large number of young people who may be suffering from other medical comorbidities, such as autism or chromosomal differences, that we definitely know put them at risk for obesity,” McCauley said. said.
In some cases, doctors believe that patients may benefit more by starting weight loss drugs at a younger age.
“We may be able to stop some weight-related complications such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic fatty liver disease and the increased risk of cancer associated with obesity,” Professor McCauley said. “When adolescents have obesity, 80% carry it into adulthood.”
