Research indicates that nearly 17% of adolescents beginning GLP-1 therapy for obesity or diabetes face significant nutrient deficiencies within a year, highlighting the need for proactive nutritional monitoring during treatment.
A new study suggests that children and teenagers who start GLP-1 medicines for obesity, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes may face a meaningful risk of nutritional deficiency within the first year of treatment. Researchers reporting in the journal Childhood Obesity found that 16.8% of patients aged 10 to 17 were diagnosed with at least one deficiency in the 12 months after beginning therapy, with vitamin D the most common problem.
The findings matter because adolescence is a period of rapid growth, when the body needs enough vitamin D, iron, calcium and other nutrients to support bones, development and general health. Justin Ryder, vice chair of research in the department of surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and an associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said proactive nutritional care should be built into treatment. “As appropriate paediatric use of GLP-1s becomes more widespread, we need to understand the risks during periods of rapid growth and pubertal development,” he said. He added that deficiencies in nutrients such as vitamin D, iron and calcium could have lasting effects on skeletal health and overall development.
The study drew on national insurance claims data collected between 2017 and 2022 and identified 2,031 young people who had started a GLP-1 drug and had no prior diagnosis of nutritional deficiency. Liraglutide, sold as Victoza and Saxenda, accounted for 78.6% of prescriptions in the group, while dulaglutide, sold as Trulicity, made up 10.4% and semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, represented 9.1%. Among the children studied, only 5% received nutritional counselling within 30 days of starting therapy and fewer than a quarter had such counselling within six months, raising concerns that support is often arriving too late.
The broader concern is not limited to children. Review articles from Harvard Health and WebMD have highlighted similar nutrition-related risks in people taking GLP-1 medicines, pointing to appetite suppression and reduced food intake as possible contributors to falling levels of key nutrients. Those reports note that vitamin D deficiency appears especially common, while calcium and vitamin B12 are also areas of concern. In the paediatric setting, the new research suggests that nutritional monitoring should begin as soon as treatment starts, rather than waiting for symptoms or lab results to reveal a problem.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
