Blueberry Balance Articles

Thinking about Wegovy for your teen? Here's what pediatric specialists actually walk families through — how the medication works, what the STEP TEENS trial found, the side effects to watch for, and where it fits inside a full treatment plan.

A GLP-1 can be an option for some teens 12 and older who have obesity, but it is never a simple yes-or-no. This decision guide walks families through who these medicines are actually for, how shared decision-making with your pediatrician works, the questions to ask before starting, and how to weigh the real benefits against the side effects and long-term unknowns — including when deciding to wait is the right call.

The American Academy of Pediatrics' 2023 Clinical Practice Guideline is the first comprehensive U.S. guideline for evaluating and treating childhood obesity. This plain-language summary explains what it actually recommends by age and BMI: annual BMI screening from age 2, intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment (IHBLT) as the foundation, weight-loss pharmacotherapy offered for consideration at 12 and older, and a surgery-evaluation referral at 13 and older with severe obesity, with equity, weight stigma, and mental-health screening named as foundational. Links to the primary source throughout.

Your teen's A1C came back in the prediabetes range and you saw it in the patient portal. This is a calm, specialist-written guide to that lab-portal moment: what an abnormal A1C means in a teenager (5.7 to 6.4 percent is prediabetes; 6.5 percent and above is the type 2 diabetes range), the concrete steps to take tonight and the exact questions to ask at the pediatrician appointment, why a flagged ALT on the same panel often signals MASLD, and how the AAP 2023 stepped-care framework treats teen prediabetes with intensive lifestyle treatment (IHBLT) first and medication considered for ages 12 and older when labs don't move at the 3-to-6-month re-test. Teen prediabetes is treatable, and the trajectory bends with sustained, supported care.

Coming off Wegovy has structure: readiness criteria, a gradual dose taper, continued lifestyle work (IHBLT), and monitoring for weight regain. A pediatric obesity specialist explains the stepped-care off-ramp for teens.