Questions to Ask Before Starting a GLP-1 for Your Teen

You have decided to explore a GLP-1 for your teen, and now comes the visit. The right questions cover six things: fit, safety, results, monitoring, how long treatment lasts, and cost. This guide puts them in plain language so you can print or screenshot them and walk in prepared. Still weighing whether a GLP-1 makes sense at all? Start with our guide, Is a GLP-1 Right for Your Teen?. A GLP-1 is a medicine that copies a gut hormone to lower appetite, and for teens it is always used alongside healthy eating and activity.

Before you go: is your teen even a candidate?

This checklist is for families who have already decided to explore a GLP-1; it does not re-argue whether the medicine is right. If you are still deciding, start with Is a GLP-1 Right for Your Teen? or our parent summary of the 2023 AAP obesity guidelines.

Questions about whether a GLP-1 is the right fit

These questions cover candidacy, family history, and how medicine fits with everyday habits.

• Is my teen a candidate, based on their BMI, health picture, and age? The 2023 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guideline says doctors should offer weight-loss medicine to teens 12 and older who have obesity. Obesity here means a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex. Each medicine also has its own FDA-approved criteria.
• Does anyone in our family have a history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2? This one is safety-critical, so raise it early. (More below.)
• How do lifestyle changes and medicine work together, and is there any reason to wait or start sooner? The AAP does not recommend trying diet and exercise first and adding medicine only if that fails. It advises offering medicine alongside healthy-habit support, with no reason to delay care a teen already needs.
• Which medicine are you considering, and is it FDA-approved for teens? For ages 12 and older, the approved options are Wegovy (semaglutide) injection and Saxenda (liraglutide) injection. Saxenda's approval also requires a body weight above about 132 pounds (60 kg). Wegovy also comes as a daily pill for adults, but that pill has not been studied in teens, so it is not a teen option. Ozempic uses the same drug as Wegovy but is approved only for adults, so it is not a teen option. See our guide to Wegovy for teens.

Curious how a medicine-free plan compares? See our lifestyle-only program.

Questions about safety and side effects

Stomach side effects are common but usually manageable; a few problems are rare and need quick attention. The numbers below come from the largest teen study, which tested Wegovy (semaglutide). Saxenda has its own teen study, so if it is the one being considered, ask your doctor for its numbers.

• What side effects are most common, and how do we manage them? In the main teen study, the most common were stomach-related: nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. About 6 in 10 teens on the medicine had some stomach side effect, versus about 4 in 10 on the inactive shot. They were usually worst while the dose was being raised. A small number of teens in the study also had hair thinning (about 4 in 100, versus none on the inactive shot).
• What if the nausea is bad? Can we slow down the dose? The medicine is raised in steps over several weeks, about 16 weeks for Wegovy and up to about 8 weeks for Saxenda in teens. The FDA label says the doctor can hold a dose longer if your teen is not tolerating it.
• Are any safety concerns more common in teens than adults? Yes. The label notes teens had somewhat higher rates of gallbladder problems, low blood pressure, and skin rashes. Gallstones were seen in about 4 in 100 teens on the medicine and none on the inactive shot.
• Which symptoms mean we should call, and which mean the emergency room? Settle this before you start.
• Before any surgery or dental work with sedation, who do we tell, and when? This medicine slows stomach emptying, so your care team needs to know before any procedure with anesthesia. There is no fixed "stop it this many days before" rule, so this is a "tell us in advance" question.

Ask about growth, puberty, and muscle too:

• How will this affect growth, puberty, and muscle, and what will you monitor? Over about 16 months (68 weeks) of teen study data, researchers tracked growth and puberty and saw no meaningful effect. That is reassuring for that time frame. Longer-term effects on growth and bone are still being studied.
• Will you track my teen's height and growth at each visit? Tracking height over time is good practice for a growing teen, and a reasonable thing to ask for. Because teens are still building muscle and bone, ask how to protect both, usually with enough protein and strength-building activity.

Read more in our guide to GLP-1 telehealth for teens.

Questions about results and expectations

Set expectations before you start, so the whole family shares one realistic picture.

• What realistic results can we expect, and how soon? The best teen study, STEP TEENS, followed 201 teens (ages 12 to under 18) with obesity for 68 weeks. Everyone got nutrition and activity coaching. On average, teens on the medicine saw their BMI drop about 16%. About 3 in 4 lost at least 5% of their body weight, versus fewer than 1 in 5 on the inactive shot.
• How much is the medicine, and how much is the rest of the plan? Every teen in that study also got healthy-habit support, so results reflect medicine plus healthy habits together.
• Do results vary a lot? Yes. Those numbers are averages, and individual results ranged widely.
• How long is the data we are relying on? The study ran about 16 months. That is the best teen evidence we have, but it is not years of data.

Questions about monitoring and daily life

Much of the value is in steady follow-up. These questions cover visits, labs, food, and the day-to-day of an injection.

• How often are follow-up visits, and what happens at them? There is no single official schedule, so ask how your program handles it. Expect closer contact early, while the dose is going up.
• Who will supervise my teen's care, and how do we reach the team between visits? Ask who the responsible clinician is and how to contact the team if something comes up. This matters in a virtual program.
• What lab tests will you check, and why? For a teen with obesity, the AAP recommends checking cholesterol, blood sugar, and a liver test, whether or not medicine is involved. Some of those numbers often improve with treatment.
• Will you check my teen's heart rate at visits? These medicines can nudge resting heart rate up. The label asks doctors to check it regularly, and to reconsider the medicine if it stays high.
• How will eating change, and should we work with a registered dietitian? Appetite usually drops, so what your teen eats matters even more. A dietitian is part of the standard care team, and enough protein plus strength-building activity helps protect muscle.
• What is the injection routine, and what if my teen cannot tolerate the full dose? Wegovy is a once-a-week shot under the skin. Saxenda is a once-a-day shot. Both start low and step up over several weeks, so ask which medicine your teen is getting and what that schedule looks like. If your teen cannot tolerate the full dose, a lower long-term dose is an approved option, not a failure. Both labels allow one step down, though how far down differs by medicine, so ask. Never share an injection pen.
• Is pregnancy-planning something we should discuss? For a teen who can become pregnant, Wegovy should be stopped at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy. It stays in the body a while, and other medicines have different timing, so ask. Counseling is part of standard care either way, and it is a private, non-judgmental talk with the clinician.

Questions about how long and what happens if we stop

Obesity is treated as a long-term condition, so these questions matter as much as the starting ones.

• How long does treatment usually last? Treatment is meant to be ongoing rather than a short course, and how long is a decision you revisit with the doctor over time. No one can hand you an exact number today.
• What happens to my teen's weight if we stop? Some weight tends to return. In the teen study, some of the BMI reduction had come back in the weeks after teens stopped. That is the expected biology of a long-term medicine, not a personal failure.
• If we ever decide to stop, how do we do it safely? Ask how stopping would be planned. Our guide on stepping down and stopping covers this in more depth.

Questions about cost and coverage

Costs and insurance rules change often, so this page will not quote prices. Bring these questions instead.

• What will this cost us: the program fee and the medicine itself? Ask for both, since they are separate.
• What does our insurance cover, and how do we find out? Coverage varies widely, so ask how to check yours.

For current details, see our companion pages on insurance coverage for GLP-1s for teens and Wegovy cost for teens. For any savings program, confirm the rules with the maker's own customer service.

Bring-this-to-your-visit checklist

Screenshot or print this short list and bring it to the appointment:

• Is my teen a candidate, based on their BMI, health picture, and age?
• Does our family have any history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2?
• How do healthy habits and medicine work together, and is there any reason to wait or start sooner?
• Which medicine are you considering, and is it FDA-approved for teens?
• What side effects are most common, and what do we do if they are bad?
• Which symptoms mean we should call, and which mean the emergency room?
• Before any surgery or sedation, who do we tell and when?
• How will you track growth, puberty, and muscle?
• If my teen can become pregnant, what should we know about timing?
• What results are realistic, and how soon?
• How often are follow-ups, what labs will you check, and should we see a dietitian?
• How long does treatment last, and what happens if we stop?
• What will it cost, and what does insurance cover?
• Who supervises the care, and how do we reach the team between visits?

How Blueberry Balance supports families

Blueberry Balance is our virtual, pediatrician-led program for teen weight health. We focus on supervised, whole-family care: honest education, healthy-habit coaching, and, when medically appropriate, FDA-approved medicine managed by a pediatrician. We keep nutrition, activity, and regular check-ins at the center, and our care team is reachable between visits.

We provide education and clinical care, not insurance paperwork, prior authorizations, or coverage checks. Your plan and pharmacy handle those.

Frequently asked questions

What questions should I ask before my teen starts a GLP-1?

Cover six areas: fit, safety, results, monitoring, how long, and cost.

Should we try lifestyle changes before medicine?

Healthy eating and activity are the foundation and continue the whole time. The 2023 AAP guideline does not ask a teen to "fail" lifestyle changes first. It advises offering medicine alongside that support for teens 12 and older who have obesity.

Can my teen take Ozempic?

Not as a weight-management option. Ozempic contains the same drug as Wegovy but is FDA-approved only for adults. For teens 12 and older, the approved weight-management options are Wegovy injection and Saxenda injection.

What side effects should we ask about?

Mostly stomach side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which usually settle.

Will a GLP-1 affect my teen's growth or puberty?

Over about 16 months of teen data, researchers saw no meaningful effect on growth or puberty; longer-term effects are still being studied.

What happens if my teen stops the medicine?

Some weight usually returns, which is expected biology, not a failure. Plan any stop with your teen's doctor.

Sources

American Academy of Pediatrics. Hampl SE, Hassink SG, Skinner AC, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Pediatrics. 2023;151(2):e2022060640. doi:10.1542/peds.2022-060640

Weghuber D, Barrett T, Barrientos-Pérez M, et al. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adolescents with Obesity (STEP TEENS). N Engl J Med. 2022;387(24):2245-2257. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2208601

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Wegovy (semaglutide) injection Prescribing Information, rev. 06/2026.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Saxenda (liraglutide) injection Prescribing Information, rev. 02/2026.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ozempic (semaglutide) injection Prescribing Information, rev. 05/2026.

This article is for general education and is not medical advice. It is not a substitute for care from your teen's doctor. Always talk with a qualified health professional before starting, changing, or stopping any medicine. If your teen has severe belly pain, trouble breathing, signs of a serious allergic reaction, or another medical emergency, seek in-person care right away.