Increasingly as a society we create problems for children and young people and then sell them the solutions. For example, we create mental health problems through access to technologies that we know fundamentally rewire their brains, and then sell them antidepressants as the solution. Social media creates problems around body image and self-esteem, and then also sells young people botox and fillers. Apps such as Facebook create problems with loneliness and isolation, and then sell them AI “companions” as compensation.

A similar principle now applies to weight loss, with children as young as 12 reported to be taking drugs to combat the issue. We have created a situation where more than a third of primary school children are already overweight or obese, and we are now selling them medication as the solution. In the US, prescriptions for weight-loss drugs for 12- to 15-year-olds have increased by almost 600% in three years. In the UK, the medicines watchdog has approved Wegovy for 12- to 17-year olds; while it can currently only be obtained privately, many in the medical profession are eager for this to change.

The risks of not treating obesity in teenagers are well known: they are far more likely to develop serious illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, high blood pressure or heart problems. However, the risks of treating obesity in teenagers using semaglutide are less clear: there are some well-documented side effects. But the long-term physical and mental effects are unknown. We know that most people regain the weight after stopping the medication, and we know that these drugs are open to abuse and misuse: one American study found that nearly one in 10 adolescents had used a medically unapproved weight-loss drug.

Many are also worried, rightly, about the effects of drastic calorie reduction, significant muscle loss, or the rewiring of the brain’s reward circuitry at such a precarious stage of life — for example, the impact this might have on teenage girls’ menstrual cycles or even their future fertility. If weight-loss drugs are no longer a “quick fix” but a decades-long endeavour, then we need more studies, more follow-ups, and more caution. In 2022, for instance, the Food and Drug Administration in the US approved a drug branded as Qsymia, despite its potential to cause depression, joint pain and abnormalities in foetuses.

The other concern is that reliance on the “solution” disincentivises policymakers from preventing the problem in the first place. Many of the factors behind obesity are complex and multi-faceted: poverty, increased screen time, ultra-processed food, inactive lifestyles, underlying health conditions, side effects of medications, or eating disorders.

Scientists are also uncovering the genetic role. There is growing research suggesting that children born to obese parents are far more predisposed to obesity because of various molecular switches that have been turned on during their development in the womb. We need to focus on the origins of childhood obesity — even the ones that happen before birth — rather than relying on drugs as a solution to a problem we have no intention of preventing.

---

Kristina Murkett is a freelance writer and English teacher.

kristinamurkett

---