One in five is overweight: More and more young people in the USA are resorting to fat injection

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Even for little ones, XXL is the norm: One in five teenagers in the US is overweight. This corresponds to approximately 15 million children. More and more people are now being treated with new fat-removing injections from Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk.

Last year, the drug was also given to teenagers in the United States. A total of 1,268 children aged 12 to 17 have started treatment with Wegovy fat injection, according to data provided to Reuters by health technology company Komodo Health.

lost 40 kilos

One of them is Oakland native Billy Small III. According to Reuters, the 15-year-old lost about 40 kilos (almost a quarter of his body weight) thanks to Wegovy. Before that, he weighed 176 kilos and was 1.75 meters tall.

His family was hesitant at first. However, he rarely experienced side effects and regained his quality of life by losing body weight. Now he goes to the movies with his friends, plays basketball or goes to the gym with his father.

What about in Switzerland?

The drug was approved for adolescents in the US in December 2022. The American Academy of Pediatrics has since recommended the drug for children with obesity aged 12 and over. Data from Komodo Health shows that parents’ willingness to medicate their children is increasing.

A US doctor is excited about liposuction injections. “I use these drugs wherever possible. It’s much more likely to prevent disease in children and adolescents, like a rescue mission, as opposed to adults, Suzanne Cuda told Reuters. She is the medical director of the Healthy Kids and Families clinic in Alamo City, Texas.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, which also offer fat-removal injections, are also testing their drugs in young children ages six and up. No results available yet.

In Switzerland, Novo Nordisk fat removal injection is currently approved only for adults. And even for this target group, delivery bottlenecks occur due to high international demand. (kae)

Source :Blick