Frankie McGinn, 17, pictured above being treated for a basketball injury, says she could not lose weight despite working out for hours daily โ until she started taking a GLP-1 medication. Frankie McGinn could not seem to lose weight no matter how hard she tried. The year-old Chicago teen ate a healthy diet and played basketball seven days a week, several hours a day.
Eventually, she became so uncomfortable in her body that she took to wearing baggy sweatshirts, and tried to avoid mirrors and windows at the shopping mall. But the results have been dramatic. I feel healthier, and I have more energy. I feel better in my body. In the United States, more than 14 million children and teenagers โ roughly 1 out of 5 โ are affected by obesity. Such concerns are driving dramatic increases in pediatric obesity treatment.
But that year, the American Academy of Pediatrics AAP released guidelines stating that providers should offer medications to patients 12 and older with obesity, alongside lifestyle treatment. Patients 13 and older diagnosed with severe obesity should be evaluated for bariatric surgery, the authors wrote.
Criticism quickly ensued. Some pointed to evidence suggesting that not everyone diagnosed with obesity needs to lose weight to stay healthy and bemoaned the use of BMI, a controversial measure that is increasingly considered inadequate unless additional factors such as waist circumference are also evaluated. Others worried about the potential long-term risks of GLP-1s, which could require lifelong use given that weight usually returns when treatment ends.
Others note the potential psychological fallout of an increased emphasis on weight in a society already obsessed with thinness. But some believe the increased focus on medical treatment could actually shift conversations away from fat-shaming.
