Prescriptions of GLP-1 weight loss drugs to American children aged 8 to 11 were 310 times more common by June 2026 than in 2019, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. Across the full study period, 20,282 children in that age group received one.
Both halves of that finding matter, and the second half is getting lost. A 310-fold increase sounds enormous. It is calculated from a 2019 baseline of 0.03 percent, close to zero. Across the whole period, 0.6 percent of children aged 8 to 11 with obesity and without diabetes ever received a prescription, versus 0.9 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17, according to the NYU Langone Health study announcement.
