A new study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that more adolescents and young adults in the United States are using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs to treat obesity.
GLP-1 receptor agonists are prescription medications used for weight loss by mimicking a natural gut hormone to slow digestion, suppress appetite, and increase feelings of fullness.
"This research is the first national-scale Epic Cosmos analysis, to our knowledge, to characterise real-world use of combined GLP-1RA therapy and MBS [Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery] among adolescents and young adults with obesity," says lead author Sarah Messiah, professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research in the Peter O'Donnell Jr School of Public Health at UT Southwestern.
To study this, they analysed data from Epic Cosmos, a database containing more than 300 million patient records from thousands of hospitals and clinics in the US and other countries.
They focused on 204,148 people aged 13 to 25 who received obesity treatment between May 2022 and January 2026.
The study found that the number of young people treated with GLP-1 drugs increased every year.
The share of patients using only GLP-1 drugs rose from 88.2% between May and November 2022 to 96.1% between June 2025 and January 2026.
During the same period, the share of patients undergoing bariatric surgery fell from 11.6% to 3.7%.
However, using both treatments together remained very uncommon, with only about 0.2% of patients receiving both.
The researchers said more studies are needed to understand the best way to combine these treatments.
The team noted that there is limited information on how the use of GLP-1 drugs has changed among adolescents and young adults across the country and whether it has affected the use of bariatric surgery.
"The study advances the field by showing that obesity treatment sequencing strategies are already emerging in routine clinical care, even though evidence-based guidance for how to combine or sequence these therapies in youth remains limited," Messiah says.
"These findings highlight the urgent need for evidence-based guidance for when GLP-1RAs should be used relative to bariatric surgery in adolescents and young adults, including whether medications are most effective before surgery, after surgery, or as part of combination therapy." – dpa
