GLP-1 Prescribing in Children Aged 8–11 Rose 310-Fold, a Pediatrics Study Reports
TL;DR: A Pediatrics study of 3.5M US children found GLP-1 prescribing for ages 8–11 with obesity rose from 0.03% in 2019 to 9.3% in 2026.
What Did the Pediatrics Study Report?
A research team led from NYU Langone Health published a descriptive analysis in Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, tracking prescriptions of GLP-1 receptor agonists among US children aged 8 to 11 years with obesity and without diabetes.[1][2] The headline figure: the proportion with a GLP-1 prescription rose from 0.03% in 2019 to 9.3% in 2026, a roughly 310-fold increase across about 7.5 years.[2] In total, 20,282 children in that age band were prescribed a drug from the class in the study window.[3]
Across the full cohort of more than 3.5 million children, the reporting puts the share prescribed Saxenda (liraglutide), Wegovy (semaglutide) or Zepbound (tirzepatide) at about 0.6%.[3] The two numbers answer different questions: 0.6% is the share of all children in the dataset, while 9.3% is the share among children already identified as having obesity without diabetes. The authors describe prescribing as still rare in absolute terms but rising quickly.[2]
What Data Did the Researchers Use?
The analysis draws on Epic Cosmos, a de-identified electronic health record (EHR) dataset covering more than 300 million US patients, with records from about 2,067 hospitals and 47,100 clinics.[2] NYU Langone describes it as the first national overview of GLP-1 use in young children.[2] The lead investigator is Babak J. Orandi, MD, PhD, an obesity medicine specialist and associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.[2]
| Reported characteristic | Figure |
|---|---|
| Share with GLP-1 prescription, 2019 | 0.03% |
| Share with GLP-1 prescription, 2026 | 9.3% |
| Children aged 8–11 prescribed in window | 20,282 |
| Prescribed children with severe obesity | 93.7% |
| With at least one obesity-associated condition | 65.2% |
| With prediabetes | About one in four |
Figures are as reported in press coverage and publisher summaries of the paper.[2][3][4] We could not retrieve the full text for this summary, so readers should consult the paper itself for definitions, confidence intervals and methods.[1]
What Are the Limits of This Kind of Data?
EHR studies record that a prescription was written. They cannot show whether it was filled, continued or stopped, and they say nothing about outcomes unless those are separately analysed. Coverage also notes that children from higher-income households were more likely to be prescribed these drugs, which is framed as an equity question rather than a clinical finding.[3][4]
Labelling context. Per the coverage, several drugs in this class are approved for adolescents aged 12 and over, but none is approved for children under 12, so prescribing in the 8–11 band falls outside current labelling.[3] Approval status is decided by regulators such as the FDA and MHRA; this article takes no position on it.
How Has the Debate Been Framed?
STAT News ran a first-person piece on 1 October 2026 from a researcher who studies GLP-1 use in children and characterises the available results as reassuring.[5] That is one author's reading, published as commentary. Because the Pediatrics paper is descriptive, it does not settle the wider argument; it quantifies how quickly practice is moving.
Why Does Prescribing Data Matter to Researchers?
Prescribing-trend papers like this one are used by health-services researchers, payers and regulators to see where real-world practice is moving ahead of trial evidence. A 310-fold change in a small baseline, from 0.03% to 9.3%, is large in relative terms, but the absolute count of 20,282 children in a 3.5-million-child dataset is modest, and the two framings can lead to very different headlines.[3] Readers comparing coverage should check whether a quoted figure is a relative change, a share of all children, or a share of children with obesity.
The paper also illustrates why labelling matters in the wider literature on incretin drugs. Pivotal trials define the populations for which a regulator can grant approval; prescribing that drifts beyond those populations is typically tracked through observational datasets such as Epic Cosmos rather than through new randomised trials.[1] Neither this study nor this summary evaluates safety or effectiveness in any age group.
How Does This Relate to Research-Use Peptides?
It does not, directly. Wegovy, Zepbound and Saxenda are licensed pharmaceutical products prescribed by clinicians under regulatory oversight. Research-use compounds such as retatrutide are a separate category: unlicensed laboratory reagents supplied for in vitro work, while in the licensed-development context retatrutide remains an investigational drug in Eli Lilly's Phase 3 programme. For background on how the incretin drugs compare in the published literature, see our retatrutide vs tirzepatide vs semaglutide comparison, and for the UK promotional-rules angle see the GLP-1 advertising crackdown.
Research reagents are not medicines, have not been evaluated by the MHRA or FDA, and are not for human or veterinary use. See our Research Use Policy and MHRA Statement.
References
- Trends in GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Prescriptions for Children Ages 8 to 11 With Obesity: 2019–2026. Pediatrics 158(4):e2026077048, September 2026. publications.aap.org
- NYU Langone Health. GLP-1 Use Among Young Children With Obesity in US Remains Rare but Is Rising Rapidly. September 2026. nyulangone.org
- AJMC. GLP-1 Prescribing in Young Children With Obesity Rises 310-Fold. September 2026. ajmc.com
- Medical Xpress. GLP-1 use among young children with obesity in US remains rare but is rising rapidly. September 2026. medicalxpress.com
- STAT News. I studied GLP-1 use in children. The results are reassuring. 1 October 2026. statnews.com
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did GLP-1 prescribing in children aged 8–11 rise, according to the study?
The study reports that the share of US children aged 8–11 with obesity and without diabetes who had been prescribed a GLP-1 receptor agonist rose from 0.03% in 2019 to 9.3% in 2026, a roughly 310-fold increase over about 7.5 years. In total, 20,282 children in that age band were prescribed one of these drugs.
Which journal published the study and who led it?
It appears in Pediatrics (volume 158, issue 4, article e2026077048), the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. NYU Langone Health reported that the work was led by Babak J. Orandi, MD, PhD, an obesity medicine specialist at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
What data did the researchers use?
Epic Cosmos, a de-identified electronic health record dataset covering more than 300 million US patients across about 2,067 hospitals and 47,100 clinics. Electronic health record data capture prescriptions written, not whether doses were dispensed or taken.
Are these drugs approved for children aged 8–11?
Per the study coverage, several drugs in this class are approved for adolescents aged 12 and over, but none is approved for children under 12, so prescribing in the 8–11 band is outside current labelling. Regulatory status is set by the FDA and MHRA, not by this article.
Does this study have anything to do with research-use peptides?
No. It reports on prescriptions of licensed pharmaceutical products written by clinicians. Velox Peptides supplies research reagents for in vitro use only, which are not medicines and are never for human or veterinary use, least of all by or for minors.