Ep 169: Children Deserve Better

Off label use of GLP-1 medications is growing in 8 to 11 year olds. There is a better way.

Sources:

https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/obesity/122883

Key Takeaways:

- Prescriptions of GLP-1 medications for children aged 8 to 11 have risen 310-fold, but off a very low base: about 20,000 children, despite the weight loss formulations only being approved from age 12.

- Children are not small adults. They are still growing, and nobody knows what these drugs do at that age, especially over years rather than a six-month trial.

- The SSRI experience is a warning: drugs tested in adults later showed a higher risk of suicidality in teenagers, so caution is needed when the risks are unknown.

- Nobody is born overweight. What children eat comes down to the adults feeding them, and healthy eating is neither complicated nor as expensive as claimed, with vegetables in season the cheapest food there is.

- Reaching for an injection teaches children that the answer to a problem is a medication rather than a change in behaviour, and the better path is going back to basics.

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Timecodes:

00:00 Introduction

01:02 Off-label GLP-1 use skyrockets in young children

01:36 A 310-fold increase, but off a very low base

02:23 Why children are not small adults

02:54 What the SSRI story teaches us about off-label use

03:51 Who is responsible for what children eat

05:30 Parents say no (hungry children will eat)

07:05 Teaching kids that a pill is the answer

07:46 Why prescriptions favour wealthier families

09:22 Is healthy eating really expensive?

11:14 Back to basics, not a pill or an injection

13:51 Outro

About Dr Joe Unplugged: Dr Joe Unplugged is your home for open commentary on health, wellbeing and life in the broadest sense. We will explore diet, exercise sleep and stress amongst other health matters as well as issues that may impact you and your wellbeing in direct or indirect ways.

Topics and comments on this podcast are general information only and are not in any way medical advice.

Recorded and produced by Podwave Studios: https://podwavestudios.au/

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