July 10, 2023 – Nearly half of teenagers with obesity who took the favored drug semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) lost enough weight in nearly a 12 months and a half that they moved into the chubby or healthy body mass index (BMI) category.
In one study, 45% of 133 teenagers who took semaglutide modified their BMI group, in comparison with only 12% of 67 teenagers who received a placebo or dummy injection. The injections got under the skin once every week.
The BMI shouldn’t be a precise value, but serves as a general guideline. It is calculated based on size and weight. Obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more, where kg is the load of an individual in kilograms and m2 is its height in meters squared.
Adolescents on this BMI class who took Wegovy or Ozempic were 23 times more prone to achieve a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2.2defined as chubby or a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2 or a healthy weight.
The researchers described semaglutide as “highly effective” in changing BMI status in teenagers.
As impressive as the outcomes were, Dr. Aaron S. Kelly of the Department of Pediatrics and Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine on the University of Minnesota and his colleagues emphasized that along with anti-obesity medications, exercise and lifestyle changes are needed to attain optimal results.
The study wasn't designed to specifically take a look at health advantages, but researchers found that teens whose BMI scores increased by not less than two categories had greater improvements in cholesterol, blood pressure and weight circumference (a measure of body fat), for instance, compared with others.
The study was published within the journal obesityKelly and colleagues wrote that their study supports starting obesity drugs earlier to assist chubby teenagers.
The study follows a number of months later controversial guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. In January 2023, the group called for more aggressive treatment of obesity or chubby in children and adolescents. The guidelines sparked controversy since the academy recommends anti-obesity drugs and weight-loss surgery for some older children.