What Should I Tell My Kids About Ozempic? A Parent’s Guide to GLP-1 Conversations

GLP-1 medications — the category that includes Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound — were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes. They’re now widely marketed for weight loss. And if you’ve noticed the ads, so have your kids. Here’s what WithAll’s Executive Director thinks parents need to know.

Have you noticed all the GLP-1 ads? Pretty hard to miss.

GLP-1 medications (the category that includes Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound) were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes.

I’ve noticed the GLP-1 drug marketing is now openly and explicitly focused on weight loss, rather than primarily diabetes-adjacent therapies, which was the earlier messaging.

As a parent and as a person who thinks a lot about the messages young people are exposed to that contribute to body image issues, disordered eating, and eating disorders, I wonder how young people internalize the ads’ images and messaging. Not to mention the messages on social media and all the things coming from Hollywood and other influencers.

First: What Are GLP-1s, Exactly?

GLP-1 medications work by mimicking a hormone in the body that regulates blood sugar and appetite. They were first approved to help manage type 2 diabetes. More recently, higher doses have been approved for weight management in people with certain health conditions.

These are legitimate, FDA-approved medications that are genuinely helpful and even life-saving for many people. That’s important context to have and to share with your kids.

The problem isn’t the medication. The problem is the story being told about it.

Why GLP-1 Messaging Matters for Young People

GLP-1 ads increasingly use the language of transformation, confidence, and appearance — not just health. And that messaging lands differently on a 10-year-old or a teenager than it does on an adult with a medical diagnosis.

I suppose it is similar to the untrue things we adults learned from marketing messages we all grew up with: that weight and health are the same thing.

Or, if I lose weight or am at a certain weight, then I’m healthy. If I’m the “right” weight (size), then I’m good. Anything else, and I’m not good or could be better. I need fixing to be what I could (should?) be.

The new part for kids today is that a pill (or shot) can get me to that Promised Land much more quickly.

The problem is the marketing and stories and socialization of GLP-1s as a quick-fix cosmetic tool — and what this tells our young people about the importance of thinness — the importance of “fixing” a body weight that does not, by any health measure, need fixing.

What Kids Are Actually Hearing

Even when ads don’t target children directly, kids absorb the messages around them. And the messages they’re getting from GLP-1 culture are some of the same ones we’ve been trying to counter for years.

1. “Smaller is healthier and more beautiful.”

Not because of the medication itself, but because of how it’s talked about. The before-and-after framing, the emphasis on weight loss as a goal, the implicit (and sometimes explicit) message that a thinner body is a better body — kids are getting all of this.

For young people who are still growing and developing their sense of their own bodies, this is a loud, hard-to-ignore signal that their body might be a problem to fix.

2. “Your hunger is something to conquer.”

A lot of GLP-1 content frames appetite as something to conquer, ignore, or “fix.” For young people (especially those who are still growing!), the takeaway may well be: I have to push away my hunger. I cannot trust my body and its cues.

Teaching kids that hunger is a signal to fight, not trust, puts them on a complicated path with food — regardless of their body size.

3. “Your body is a project with a quick solution.”

When weight is treated like a problem to solve (that we can quickly solve — with just a pill!), we now are either on the side of trying to solve the problem or on the side of giving up. Kids internalize this. And once a child starts believing their body is something to be fixed, it’s hard to undo.

This is nonsense (stigma), and it harms all of us. The truth is that health — real, lasting health — isn’t something you achieve by reaching a certain weight. And a child’s worth has nothing to do with their size.

What You Can Do

If you’re a parent, teacher, coach, doctor, or anyone else who has young people looking up to you, you might consider these tips for addressing GLP-1s with young people, so they have the facts instead of the unchecked stories that are swirling everywhere.

1. Name for young people that GLP-1s are medical care

Young people can handle honesty well when it comes with context. You don’t need to be a pharmacist; just be clear that these are real medications, for real medical reasons, decided by doctors.

What to say:

• “Medication can be needed to support our bodies and brains to work in the ways we need them to work so we can live without pain or in ways that can help us recover from illness or disease. Doctors help us decide if and when we need medication.”
• “The ads make it seem like everyone should take it to look a certain way, but that’s the company trying to sell something, not the whole story.”

2. Teach media literacy around body and weight messaging

Ask questions and share context that help kids think critically of the messaging they’re receiving.

What to say:

• “Companies that sell things make ads that subtly or secretly make us feel insecure so that we are more likely to buy their ‘solution.’”
• “Did you see that GLP-1 ad? What do you think it’s really saying? What does it think people want? Do you think that’s true?”

Let them answer. You don’t have to have the perfect response — asking the question and listening is already doing something important.

3. Separate health from size — out loud, often

Health is not a look. You can’t see it from the outside. Saying this once isn’t enough — it needs to be a steady presence at home, especially when the culture around your kids is saying the opposite.

What to say:

• “You can’t tell how healthy or happy someone is by looking at them. Health is about so many things — sleep, stress, moving your body in ways that feel good, eating in ways that give you energy, and spending time with people you love. None of that shows up in a before-and-after photo.”

4. Protect body trust at home

One of the most powerful things you can do is make your home a place where bodies — including yours — are talked about with respect and neutrality. That means:

• No singling out one child for different food rules based on their size or weight
• No connecting food or exercise to how someone looks or what they weigh
• No body comments — positive or negative — about yourself or others
• Complimenting effort, kindness, creativity, and character instead of appearance

What to say about your own body (modeling out loud):

• “I’m going to go for a walk — it helps me feel less stressed and sleep better.” Instead of: “I need to burn off what I ate.”

What to Say When It Comes Up Unexpectedly

Sometimes the conversation doesn’t start with a question — it starts with a comment at dinner, something a kid overheard, or a moment you didn’t see coming. Here are a few more scripts for those moments.

When your child says, “I wish I could take something to be thinner.”

Don’t rush to say “You don’t need to be thinner!” That can feel dismissive. Start with curiosity.

What to say:

“What made you think about that? How are you feeling about your body lately?”

Let them share.

Then: “I hear you. There’s so much pressure out there to look a certain way. Your body isn’t a problem to fix. And you don’t need to be any different size to be healthy, happy, or loved.”

When your child mentions that someone at school is taking a GLP-1

What to say:

“Yeah, a lot of people are talking about these medications. What do you think about it?”

Let them respond.

Then: “It’s a real medication that helps some people’s bodies work the way they need to — like any other medicine. But the ads make it seem like everyone should take it to look different, and that part isn’t true. Bodies come in all sizes, and all of them deserve care.”

When you catch yourself saying something you wish you hadn’t

It’s okay to go back to it.

What to say:

“Hey, I want to revisit something I said earlier. I made it sound like losing weight is always a good goal. The truth is, what matters most is that our bodies feel good and work well — not what size they are. I’m still learning this stuff, too.”

The goal isn’t raising kids who don’t hear about GLP-1s.

The goal is raising and supporting young people to know the fundamental truth that all bodies deserve respect, body weight and appearance is not a prerequisite to happiness or well-being, health is so much more (and more important) than a number, and needing and receiving medical care does not make you more or less valuable.

Want to keep going? Download our free Body Comments Guide with practical scripts for responding to body talk at home, at the table, and everywhere in between.