March 15, 2024 – Summer season is quick approaching, and the pressures of “bikini season” have some younger adults seeking to GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic to shed weight. And whereas knowledge exhibits that weight problems is skyrocketing amongst U.S. teenagers and younger adults, Ozempic and different GLP-1 drugs are very hardly ever the primary or finest choice to reduce weight – particularly for individuals who don’t have weight problems or associated circumstances, specialists say.
Earlier than leaping to those drugs, teenagers ought to be sure they’re consuming nutritious meals and getting sufficient train. However for teenagers who’re obese (BMI over 25) or overweight (BMI 30 or extra),Sue Decotiis, MD, a triple board-certified medical weight reduction physician who runs a non-public observe in New York Metropolis, suggests they see their physician for a screening of their baseline metabolic fee and insulin ranges.
“Teenagers often have a quick metabolism, so by seeing their metabolism and insulin ranges, it could give me an concept whether or not they really need the drug,” she mentioned.
As temperatures rise on the street to summer time, Ozempic and different GLP-1 drugs may be alluring as physique comparisons enhance, based on Wendy Sterling, a registered dietitian and co-author of Elevating Physique Optimistic Teenagers: A Guardian’s Information to Weight-reduction plan-Free Dwelling, Train, and Physique Picture. Younger individuals ought to be hyper conscious of managing such ideas, she mentioned.
This can be a notably vital message for these 18 to 24 years of age, whose brains are nonetheless rising and growing, mentioned Lexy Penney, a registered dietitian and proprietor of Lexy Penney Vitamin & Wellness, the place she focuses on areas surrounding younger adults and physique picture.
“If younger individuals get the message ‘your physique is mistaken and with a view to repair it, right here’s a tablet,’ it may set off a cascade of turning to fast fixes, low vanity, and unfavourable physique picture that may take years to undo,” she mentioned.
One other important notice: Younger adults ought to be particularly conscious of the dangers of taking GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic, if you end up not a certified candidate, based on Michael Hakimi, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon and proprietor of Hakimi Plastic Surgical procedure in Beverly Hills.
Ozempic is FDA-approved for treating diabetes, whereas its sister drug, Wegovy, is accredited for weight problems in anybody 12 and over. Different choices embody Mounjaro and Zepbound.
If you’re seeking to shed 5 or 10 kilos, or you might be hoping to reduce weight in a selected space of your physique, this isn’t a medicine for you, Hakimi mentioned. He sees such inquiries loads with youthful sufferers, who’ve a decrease BMI and need to reduce weight in simply a part of the physique (within the stomach space, for instance).
“If you happen to’re not obese, you must know that these drugs trigger you to reduce weight in all places,” Hakimi mentioned. “These drugs may even make you look older to some extent in the event that they’re abused or misused by sufferers that may’t afford to lose extra weight of their face or of their buttocks, for instance.”
Hakimi mentioned medical doctors have an obligation to teach sufferers with decrease BMIs about potential outcomes of those drugs, which embody extreme unwanted effects within the intestine, like diarrhea, extreme constipation, and even pancreatitis. There’s additionally the price. The medicine can price $1,000 a month, and plenty of insurers will not cowl them. Plus, research have proven that many individuals regain weight in the event that they cease taking the drugs.
If you’re weighing the choice of taking a GLP-1 medicine, you will need to ask your self what’s driving your potential resolution. Have a look at your social media use and take account of who you might be following, steered Sterling. Look at how these accounts make you are feeling and whether or not you are feeling impressed vs. feeling like you must change one thing about your self.
“A lot of what we see on-line is unrealistic,” she mentioned. “We’re all inundated with weight loss plan tradition, and most are determined for fast methods to reduce weight.” She suggests attempting a “weight impartial” strategy, akin to stress administration, correct sleep, and listening to starvation and fullness cues to succeed in your distinctive physique objectives.
