Weight-loss drug Wegovy use is up 50% among U.S. teens, study shows

A new report from health data firm Truveta shows there was 50 per cent increase in American teenagers using the weight-loss drug Wegovy, particularly those living with obesity.

American teens are increasingly turning to the weight-loss drug Wegovy as more families and their doctors gain confidence in its use for young people with obesity, new data shared with Reuters shows.

The average rate of teens beginning treatment with the highly effective Novo Nordisk drug grew 50 per cent last year to 14.8 prescriptions per 100,000 adolescents, according to an analysis by health data firm Truveta.

That’s up from a rate of 9.9 prescriptions per 100,000 in 2023, the first full year that Wegovy was available to children aged 12 and older.

The average rate climbed further during the first three months of this year, reaching 17.3 new prescriptions per 100,000.

That still represents a minute fraction of the estimated 23,000 out of every 100,000 teens in the country who are living with obesity, and is far slower than the uptake among U.S. adults.

“It’s promising that more young people are using these medications, but it’s still a very small percentage of patients with severe obesity that are getting access to them,” said Dr. Cate Varney, director of obesity medicine at the University of Virginia Health system.

“When lifestyle changes alone are insufficient, we need these additional tools.”

For its analysis, Truveta reviewed the electronic health records of 1.3 million patients ages 12 through 17.