Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy were initially developed to treat diabetes, but gained widespread popularity thanks to their ability to help people lose weight. Now doctors are starting to prescribe them to a new group of patients: teenagers struggling with obesity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in five children and adolescents in America has obesity. Experts say many have tried diet and exercise, but obesity is a complex disease without easy solutions. One new solution might be GLP-1 type weight loss drugs. Nationwide, weight-loss drug prescriptions for young people ages 12 to 25 increased an estimated 600% between 2020 and 2023, according to the CDC, but concerns remain about their long term effects on growing teenage bodies.
Thursday on the "Sound of Ideas," we'll discuss the pros and cons to teens and weight loss drugs with Ideastream's health reporter, who has covered this topic, and a University Hospitals expert.
Later in this show, our station is celebrating its 75th anniversary. That's a lot of radio. If you're wondering where we've been, how we got here, and where we're going, you're about to find out. Ideastream Public Media's Senior Arts & Culture Reporter, Kabir Bhatia, has emerged from the archives with "A Diamond On the Air: 75 Years of WKSU."
Guests:
- Taylor Wizner, Health Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
- Courtney Batt, M.D., Adolescent Medicine and Obesity Medicine, University Hospital Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital
- Kabir Bhatia, Senior Arts & Culture Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
