A recent study has found that a weight loss drug is broadly safe and effective for children under 12 with obesity. This discovery has been cautiously welcomed by outside experts. GLP-1 agonists, a new class of weight loss drugs, have gained significant popularity globally, leading to stock shortages and widespread off-label use despite high prices. However, limited research has been conducted on the effects of these drugs on young children.
According to the World Health Organization, obesity in children and adolescents has quadrupled since 1990, yet there are no regularly prescribed drugs to treat obesity in children. The study focused on an older GLP-1 agonist called liraglutide, marketed by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk under the brand name Saxenda. Novo Nordisk also produces the widely-known semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
The US-based phase 3 trial, funded by Novo Nordisk, was the first to examine liraglutide’s impact on children under 12. The study included 82 children aged six to 12 with obesity, some of whom were randomly assigned to receive a daily injection of liraglutide, while others were given a placebo. The children were also encouraged to exercise and maintain a healthy diet.
After a little over a year, 46 percent of the children receiving the drug experienced a reduction in their body mass index (BMI) by at least five percent. In contrast, only nine percent of the placebo group saw such a reduction. BMI was used to account for the rapid growth in children of these ages. Some children taking the drug reported side effects like vomiting and nausea, similar to those experienced by adults, according to researchers.
Lead study author Claudia Fox from the University of Minnesota stated that children living with obesity are often told to “try harder with diet and exercise.” However, these findings offer hope that a drug could eventually help these children “live healthier, more productive lives,” she said in a statement.
Stephen Burgess, a statistician at the University of Cambridge not involved in the research, commented that the study demonstrated the potential of drugs to “help change the trajectory of weight gain in young children.” While weight loss injections are not the ideal solution to childhood obesity, the reductions in BMI for trial participants were sustained even beyond the treatment course, he told AFP.
Simon Cork, a researcher at the UK’s Anglia Ruskin University, noted that “the evidence that liraglutide is both safe and effective in children is positive.” However, he cautioned that one concern with weight loss drugs like GLP-1 agonists, which work by suppressing appetite, is the potential risk of stunting growth. The new study showed no evidence of this occurring, but Cork emphasized that “further studies over longer time periods are necessary to ensure that appetite suppression in these children does not have unforeseen negative consequences later in their development.”
The study was presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference in Madrid and was also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
