The Childhood ‘Solution’ That Should Terrify Every Parent

Something has shifted in American pediatrics. After the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 2023 that doctors offer weight-loss medication to children as young as 12, prescriptions of GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy and Saxenda for kids jumped sharply almost overnight, and they have climbed every month since. Clinical trials are now underway to push these drugs to children younger than 12. We are, in effect, deciding that the cure for a childhood spent eating processed foods and addicted to screens is a weekly injection that reengineers a developing brain’s hunger signals. Have we fallen so far off the cliff that we must inject our kids to lead them down a healthy path? This is not a solution.

There are some adults with serious metabolic conditions for whom these medications can be a genuine tool. But we have to address our cultural disease at the roots. “Let food be thy medicine” could never ring truer than it does at this pivotal juncture.