Prescriptions for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs in American children ages 8 to 11 with obesity were 310 times more common in June 2026 than in 2019, according to a study published online September 4 in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers led by NYU Langone Health tracked prescribing among 3,520,531 children in that age band, using Epic Cosmos, a national database of electronic health records.
The starting point was close to zero, so the total is still small. Among children ages 8 to 11 with obesity, 0.6% were prescribed a GLP-1.
Key takeaways
- Prescribing in kids ages 8 to 11 rose 310-fold over 7.5 years, but only 0.6% of children that age with obesity received one.
- Prescribing was concentrated in children who already had an obesity-related illness, at 188.9 prescriptions per 10,000 children in that group, or about 1.9%.
- Children in upper-income communities were 55% more likely to get a prescription, an access gap that runs opposite to where childhood obesity is concentrated.
What the study found
The drugs involved are Saxenda, Wegovy and Zepbound. The research team looked only at children with obesity who did not have diabetes, so these were prescriptions written for weight, not for blood sugar disease.
The children receiving them were not borderline cases. Prescribing was heaviest among children who already had an illness tied to obesity, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure or sleep apnea. In that group the rate was 188.9 prescriptions per 10,000 children, or about 1.9%, well above the 0.6% across all children ages 8 to 11 with obesity.
Girls were more likely than boys to get a prescription. Older children were more likely than younger ones, even though clinical guidelines permit use in children as young as 8.
Children living in upper-income communities were 55% more likely to be prescribed a GLP-1 than children who were not.
Dr. Kumar’s take
A 310-fold rise sounds like a stampede. Read the rest of the numbers and it looks like the opposite of one.
Going from almost nobody to 0.6% is a huge multiplier on a tiny base. And the prescriptions are landing where the guidelines point, in children who already have an obesity-related complication on the chart. If prescribing had gone loose, you would expect a big share of mild cases and healthy kids. That is not what showed up.
The finding that actually deserves attention is the income gap. Childhood obesity in the United States is more common in lower-income communities, yet the prescriptions are landing 55% more often in wealthier ones. These drugs are expensive and often require a specialty visit, so the pattern is easy to explain and hard to defend. This is a story about who can reach treatment, not about too many people getting it.
What the data cannot answer is the question I care most about. These are children in the middle of growing. Years of appetite suppression during that window touches growth velocity, the timing of puberty, how much bone mineral gets laid down and how much lean muscle is built. This study cannot speak to any of that. It counts prescriptions, it does not follow the children who received them. Until there is long-term follow-up in this age group, prescribing here is a judgment call, not a settled one.
There is also risk on the other side. Untreated severe obesity in childhood carries its own path toward diabetes, high blood pressure and liver disease in early adulthood. Doing nothing is a choice with consequences too.
What it means for you
If your child has been offered a GLP-1, the questions worth asking are specific: what is the BMI percentile, what obesity-related conditions are already present, and what is the plan for tracking height, weight and puberty over the next several years. A prescription for a growing child should come with a monitoring schedule, not just a refill.
If your child has obesity but no complications yet, this study says most children in that position are not being put on these drugs. Diet, sleep, and physical activity remain the first move, and they matter regardless of what else gets added later.
This is an analysis of prescription records, not a trial. It shows who received these drugs, not how well the drugs worked or how safe they proved to be.