September 26, 2024 | Nature via UVic News
A recent article based on a study out of The New England Journal of Medicine posits the question: Is it safe to use weight loss drugs on children and adolescents? Trials have shown that these drugs can help young people lose significant amounts of weight, but the long-term side effects of these drugs are still relatively unknown. But is that enough to discount the medications altogether? Children with severe obesity already struggle with serious health issues, such as high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, not to mention the ramifications on their organs. But the use of these drugs in minors also raises ethical questions around weight stigma and long-term medication use.
Sarah Nutter, a weight stigma researcher from the University of Victoria, provides a critical perspective regarding the use of weight loss drugs in minors. She argues that families are immersed in “a culture that glorifies thinness and criticizes and shames people who have higher body weight.” Nutter emphasizes that obesity should be measured by “weight-related health problems” rather than BMI, a metric she considers to be flawed. She also raises the ethical concern of prescribing powerful drugs to young people who are still developing, and highlights the importance of considering a child’s overall health rather than just their weight.
Dr. Nutter is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies. Her research is primarily on weight-related issues, including body image and eating disorders, with a particular focus on weight stigma and “better understanding sociocultural and ideological influences on weight stigma.” Nutter is also actively involved in advocacy and outreach through her membership in EveryBODY Matters. She works to challenge misconceptions about weight and health, aiming to improve healthcare experiences for individuals of higher weight by promoting a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between weight and health.
In 2023, Sarah Nutter co-authored a study aiming to address gaps in obesity education, mitigate weight bias and stigma, and promote evidence-based obesity care. If you’d like to read that paper, or any other of Nutter’s works, you can find them and more at our institutional repository UVicSpace.
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
