Is Wegovy approved for teenagers?

Wegovy injection is, for weight reduction in children 12 and older with obesity. Wegovy tablets are not established in children.

Is Zepbound approved for teens?

No. The Zepbound label says safety and effectiveness have not been established in pediatric patients.

Can a 10-year-old take Mounjaro?

The label approves Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes from age 10, with a 10 mg weekly maximum for children.

Is Ozempic approved for children?

No. The Ozempic label says safety and efficacy have not been established in pediatric patients.

GLP-1 Medicines Approved for Children and Teens

Short answer: Several are. Wegovy injection and Saxenda are approved for weight in children 12 and older with obesity. Victoza, Trulicity and Mounjaro are approved for type 2 diabetes from age 10. Ozempic, Rybelsus, Zepbound and Byetta are not established in children. In the Wegovy teen trial, BMI fell 16.1% on Wegovy and rose 0.6% on placebo.

What each label says (section 8.4)

Pediatric approval by label
Medicine	Approved for	From age
Wegovy injection (semaglutide)	Weight reduction with obesity	12
Saxenda (liraglutide)	Weight with obesity and body weight over 60 kg	12
Victoza (liraglutide)	Type 2 diabetes	10
Trulicity (dulaglutide)	Type 2 diabetes	10
Mounjaro (tirzepatide)	Type 2 diabetes	10
Wegovy tablets	Not established in children	Adults only
Ozempic, Rybelsus (semaglutide)	Not established in children	Adults only
Zepbound (tirzepatide)	Not established in children	Adults only
Byetta (exenatide)	Not established; a teen trial did not show it worked	Adults only

The Saxenda label also says it is not established for children with type 2 diabetes. The Wegovy label says its heart-risk use is not established in children.

What the teen trials found

Wegovy was tested in 201 teens aged 12 and up with obesity, mean age 15, for 68 weeks (section 14.3). BMI fell 16.1% on Wegovy and rose 0.6% on placebo; body weight fell 14.7% against a 2.7% gain. A BMI drop of at least 10% happened in 65.1% on Wegovy and 7.7% on placebo.

Saxenda was tested in 251 teens aged 12 to 17 for 56 weeks (section 14.2). Body weight fell 2.65% on Saxenda and rose 2.37% on placebo. 10.4% stopped Saxenda because of side effects, and none on placebo.

The diabetes approvals rest on smaller trials: 134 patients for Victoza, 154 for Trulicity and 99 for Mounjaro, each aged 10 to 17 (section 8.4).

Side effects the labels flag in children

Wegovy: teens had more gallstones and gallbladder inflammation, low blood pressure, rash and hives than adults (section 8.4).
Victoza: low blood sugar was more common in children regardless of insulin or metformin use.
Mounjaro: more vomiting, stomach pain and low blood sugar than in adults. In its 30-week trial, vomiting was 16% on 5 mg and 12% on 10 mg against 3% on placebo.
Trulicity: more injection site reactions than in adults.

The boxed warning on thyroid C-cell tumors appears on each of these labels and is not limited by age.

For families

Teen doses step up much like adult doses, with some differences: Saxenda allows a 2.4 mg maintenance dose if 3 mg is not tolerated, and Mounjaro tops out at 10 mg for children (section 2). Decisions about starting, dose and how long to continue belong with the child's doctor. Dose Track can log each injection, weight and side effects, and a parent can keep the record for a teen.

Read more on Dose Track: Wegovy dosing guide · Saxenda dosing guide · Mounjaro dosing guide · Trulicity dosing guide

General education drawn from labels, public health agencies and published studies, not personal medical advice. Your prescriber, pharmacist and the label that came with your medicine are the final word. Questions for other users? Ask in the Dose Track community.

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