An obesity drug lowered the BMI and blood pressure of children as young as six, according to a new study.
Children aged six to 12 using the Novo Nordisk injectable pens for more than a year saw a 7.4% reduction in their body-mass index compared with those on a placebo.
Also known as liraglutide, it is a diabetes and weight-loss jab in the same GLP-1 class of drugs as Ozempic and Wegovy treatments.
The trial, which featured 92 children, led to BMI reduction for those using liraglutide, as well as weight loss when compared with a placebo.
Participants taking the medicine also saw improvements in blood pressure and blood glucose control, researchers said.
Limited obesity treatments
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, results were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Madrid.
‘To date, children have had virtually no options for treating obesity,’ said lead researcher Professor Claudia Fox, of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.
‘They have been told to “try harder” with diet and exercise.
‘Now with the possibility of a medication that addresses the underlying physiology of obesity, there is hope that children living with obesity can live healthier, more productive lives.’
Obesity costs
This figure refers to the average annual healthcare cost attributed to each person with class III obesity in 2019.
It was divided into £922 of inpatient admissions, £336 of prescriptions, £287 of primary care and £246 of outpatient appointments. The remaining £80 was attributed to emergency department visits.
The study found that this cost had been increasing each year since 2015, when it stood at £1,321. The costs incurred by those in the overweight to class II obese categories also increased, though to a lesser degree.
The gap in healthcare costs between those who were overweight and those with class III obesity therefore rose steadily throughout the study period. In 2015 the gap was 55%, rising to 64% in 2019.
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