Study wrapper · #1156
Pharmacotherapy for Children and Adolescents With Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Editor's note
In this network meta-analysis of pediatric obesity pharmacotherapy, semaglutide tops the efficacy rankings but shares the podium with phentermine-topiramate, which the authors favor on tolerability grounds. The evidence base is thinner than in adults — 41 trials but under 4,000 participants total — and indirect comparisons carry the usual caveats. Worth noting as the pediatric evidence for GLP-1 agents continues to accumulate; long-term data in this age group remain the open question.
Plain-language abstract
Researchers pooled 41 randomized trials (about 3,900 children and adolescents) comparing weight-management drugs added to lifestyle programs. Semaglutide produced the largest drop in BMI relative to the pediatric growth chart — about a 20% reduction in the 95th-percentile measure — ahead of phentermine-topiramate, liraglutide, and exenatide. The authors note phentermine-topiramate may be easier to tolerate, which factors into their overall ranking.