Pediatricians are hesitating to prescribe medicines like Wegovy, citing their newness and uncertainties around them.
Dr. Edward Lewis, a pediatrician in Rochester, N.Y., has seen hundreds of children with obesity over the years in his medical practice. He finally may have a treatment for their medical condition — the powerful weight loss drug Wegovy.
But that does not mean Dr. Lewis is prescribing it. Nor are most other pediatricians.
“I am reluctant to prescribe medications we don’t use on a day-to-day basis,” Dr. Lewis said. And, he added, he is disinclined to use “a medicine that is a relative newcomer to the scene in kids.”
Regulators and medical groups have all said that these drugs are appropriate for children as young as 12. But like Dr. Lewis, many pediatricians hesitate to prescribe Wegovy to young people, fearful that too little is known about long term effects, and mindful of past cases when problems emerged years after a drug was approved.
Twenty-two percent of adolescents age 12 to 19 have obesity. Research shows that most are unlikely to ever overcome the condition — advice to diet and exercise usually has not helped. The reason, obesity researchers say, is that obesity is not caused by a lack of will power. Instead, it is a chronic disease characterized by an overwhelming desire to eat.
And how do poor families afford to do that? Processed foods are the cheapest and most abundant things to eat here in the US. Eating healthy isn’t cheap, fresh foods are not cheap, high quality meats are not cheap. Not to mention when the parents are working sometimes 2 or even 3 jobs to make ends meet, where do they find the time to prepare a healthy home cooked meal?
Lophostemon is right that the food industry pushes the cheap processed stuff because that’s where all of their profit is, cheap ingredients can be hidden behind processing, cheap fillers are used in place of more nutritional ingredients, and sugars can be added to get the buyers physically addicted to their products.
But a real solution would have to go a step further than just regulating what kinds of foods producers are allowed to sell. People need to be able to afford to purchase the healthy options, and they need the time required to prepare them. Less working hours and more pay for workers would go further towards ending hunger and obesity in this country than pretty much anything else.
Agreed. It’s kind of funny, in a very darkly comedic way, how so many issues can be traced back to “late stage capitalism was, and continues to be, a problem”. Having the ability to purchase, and the time to prepare, healthy foods is a privilege enjoyed by people with means. There’s so much wrong with that.
Besides gardening, which is a cheat code for fresh/healthy food. Beans, lentils, oatmeal, eggs, ground beef, frozen veggies, etc. Eating healthy is definitely affordable.
Yes because everyone has room for a garden.
I’ve got a garden but it’s not like you get stuff within hours of putting seeds in the ground. Gardening is a long term investment that rarely pays off in food production and sporadically at that.
Beans, lentils, five, oatmeal, and frozen veggies are cheaper than pretty much any junk food around.
But by all means, find whatever excuse you like.
No, but if you want to be healthy, it’s definitely not a money issue.
Having the space and time to garden absolutely is a money issue
I was extremely tired when I wrote that comment. Should have been more clear. Forget the gardening lol, the other foods I listed are easily purchased from most grocery stores and are very much affordable. Rice, beans, lentils, frozen veggies, oatmeal, etc. Get a crock pot and throw a bunch of that stuff in it (with maybe some bouillon, cheap canned stock, or spices of choice), then bam! Cheap, healthy food for the whole week.
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