A study of medical claims for 2,031 patients ages 10–17 found 16.88% had a nutrition-related diagnosis within a year of starting a GLP-1 drug. The researchers said it was designed to describe real-world patterns, not establish that the drugs caused the diagnoses.
Vitamin D deficiency was most common (12.4%), followed by nutritional anemia (1.55%) and iron-deficiency anemia (1.44%). Only 23.3% of patients had a nutrition therapy or counseling visit within 180 days of starting treatment; the average time to the first visit was 149 days.
Researchers noted the drugs can suppress appetite, increase feelings of fullness and delay gastric emptying, potentially reducing calorie intake. They said integrating nutrition therapy and counseling into pediatric treatment could support healthy growth and longer-term outcomes.
