Ep. 100 Before Your Teen Takes Ozempic or Wegovy, Listen to This

Everyone is talking about Ozempic, Wegovy, and GLP-1 weight loss medications for teenagers. But there is one critical piece of information that almost nobody is discussing. And as a pediatric endocrinologist who prescribes these medications regularly, I think every parent and teenager considering them needs to hear it.

In this episode, I am breaking down what the clinical trials actually showed, what the numbers really mean, and what happened to the teenagers in those studies who did not take the medication at all. Because the answer might genuinely surprise you.

What you will learn in this episode:

How GLP-1 clinical trials actually work, and why the results are more nuanced than headlines suggest

What percentage of teenagers achieved meaningful weight loss with Wegovy and semaglutide 

What percentage achieved the same meaningful weight loss without any medication at all (and this number is important)

Why all GLP-1 trials were conducted alongside intensive lifestyle modification programs, and what that means for real-world results

The minimum contact support that research shows is needed for lifestyle modification to be effective

Why teenagers who had previously failed lifestyle modification achieved results when placed in a structured, supervised program for a full year

The muscle mass side effect of GLP-1 medications and what reduces it significantly

What happens to weight when GLP-1 medications are stopped, and why lifestyle change cannot be taken away.

Do you worry your teen is gaining weight quickly or seems hungry all the time?
Are you afraid this could lead to prediabetes or diabetes later in life?

That’s why I created the “Healthy Weight Starts with Healthy Habits": A 7-Day Hormone Reset Program for Teens.

ONLY $25 - Learn more here !

I’m Dr. Jenny Gourgari—pediatric endocrinologist, certified in obesity medicine and a health coach. 
After helping hundreds of teens struggling with their weight and hormones, I’ve created a whole new path by doing what most programs miss: balance puberty hormones naturally and create habits that actually last.

Here's what makes this different:
✅ No dieting. No calorie counting. No shame.
✅ No more food fights between parents and teens.
✅ No weight obsession—just healthy habits
✅ Real science behind how puberty hormones affect weight
✅ A safe, supportive approach that prevents eating disorders

Because when teens understand their hormones and get the right support, they don’t just lose weight—they gain strength, energy, confidence, and freedom!

📲 Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly emails packed with easy tips, clinical insights, and practical tools

🎁 Grab your FREE high-protein recipe guide with 30 meals teens will love.
Links
30 Healthy Recipes for teens
lifestyleforteens.com/recipes

Smoothies Recipes for teens
lifestyleforteens.com/smoothies

Subscribe to my newsletter
lifestyleforteens.com/newsletter

I’m Dr. Jenny Gourgari—pediatric endocrinologist, certified in obesity medicine and a health coach. 
After helping hundreds of teens struggling with their weight and hormones, I’ve created a whole new path by doing what most programs miss: balance puberty hormones naturally and create habits that actually last.

Here's what makes this different:
✅ No dieting. No calorie counting. No shame.
✅ No more food fights between parents and teens.
✅ No weight obsession—just healthy habits
✅ Real science behind how puberty hormones affect weight
✅ A safe, supportive approach that prevents eating disorders

Because when teens understand their hormones and get the right support, they don’t just lose weight—they gain strength, energy, confidence, and freedom!

📲 Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly emails packed with easy tips, clinical insights, and practical tools

🎁 Grab your FREE high-protein recipe guide with 30 meals teens will love.
Links
30 Healthy Recipes for teens
lifestyleforteens.com/recipes

Smoothies Recipes for teens
lifestyleforteens.com/smoothies

Subscribe to my newsletter
lifestyleforteens.com/newsletter

Transcript

  📍 There is one thing that nobody talks about when they talk about weight loss medications in teenagers. 📍 Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda, GLP-1 medications. A lot of discussion about side effects, effectiveness but one thing I never hear about, and it's very important, What happens to those people in 📍 the trials that did not take the medications. There is a clinical trial to test a medication, there are two groups of people. 📍 One group takes the medication. There is one group that doesn't take the medication. And then we compare the two groups, and if the group that has the medication has more effects, then we say, "Oh, yes, it's actually this medication is working." And I'm not here to say that these weight loss medications do not work. They are amazing drugs. They do work very well, both in adults and teenagers. 📍 As a doctor, I prescribe them very frequently in teenagers that need it. However, I want to bring to 📍 your attention two main things. One thing is that all these medications work alongside lifestyle modifications. Now, what that means is that when they try to see what is the efficacy of the medication, they had one group that was on the 📍 GLP-1 medications plus lifestyle modifications, and then they had another group that had the sugar medications. We call this placebo. So they were not taking, they were like taking a fake medication, but they were also 📍 📍 doing lifestyle modifications. So- what we need to know is that this effectiveness of medications that you see were while the teenagers were under a supervised intensive lifestyle modification program. It means that they were 📍 seeing a nutritionist, they were 📍 doing exercise, particularly strength exercise. 📍 They were counseling, taking care of their emotions, they were part of a structure group that gave them advice about how to live healthier. Studies have shown in order for lifestyle modification to be effective, there needs to be a minimum of twenty-six hours of contact. It's not that you go in a lecture, they tell you, "This is what you need to do. Eat this, do this, do that," and then problem solved. No, because lifestyle modification is very important. It happens over time, and it requires accountability and support, and requires consistency over time. Even if I tell you today one time, you know what to do, you do it one week, the next week you're not gonna do it. You forgot you go back to your old habits. So that's why it is recommended to have 📍 at least twenty-six hours of contact support minimum, which is what these trials did in those studies. So when we give these 📍 medications, and if you are considering giving this medication to your teenager or you're already taking this medication, that is great. But know that, first of all, if you took the extra 📍 step to weigh the risk and benefits, cause there's always risks with these medications. And there are benefits, right? If you go all the way to get a medication and accept the risks, you might as well take the full benefit of the medications. You might as well do 📍 those lifestyle modifications so that you get the maximum effect from these medications similar to the studies that they showed. What are those numbers? Before I say that, I'm gonna say, what do we consider meaningful clinical change? What do we consider meaningful weight loss in order to get metabolic benefits? Traditionally, a meaningful weight reduction of 5% weight loss is what the studies have shown. So with these drugs that, as I said, they are very effective, the scientists, when they tried to see how effective those medications are, they looked what is the percentage of people that they were on this medicine that they had 5% reduction of weight loss. And particularly for the Wegovy or the semaglutide, in teenagers their percentage was very big. 📍 📍 seventy three % Of teenagers were able to have a meaningful 5% weight loss with these medications. And 62% had 10% weight loss with the medication. Now, when they... Now, this is the second thing I wanna mention, that you don't hear about it almost never. Okay? There was there was- there were 📍 📍 eight teen % of teenagers that were not taking the medications, they also had a meaningful reduction of 5% of weight loss. that means one in 📍 five teenagers had the same effect of meaningful reduction that we wanna see with the medications. So that's a big number, in my opinion. That's great because there is no risk with lifestyle modification, right? And the percentage of teenagers that achieved 10% weight loss with lifestyle modification was 8%. The medications are way more effective when you combine them, of course, with lifestyle modifications. 📍 More teenagers achieve those results with the medicine compared to the teenagers that they were doing just lifestyle modifications. But how about we think before 📍 📍 you start the medicine whether you are one in 📍 📍 five teenagers, that you can achieve that meaningful 5% weight loss without the medication. I'm just here to point this out how important lifestyle modification is. And the second thing I wanna mention, the third thing, actually, I wanna mention is that in another trial in the in another clinical trial 📍 with the Saxenda, which is liraglutide, which is another GLP-1 medication for weight loss for teenagers, is not so popular because instead of weekly injections, the injections are daily injections, so it's not so commonly used. Again, one in five teenagers had those results. Now, the other thing I wanna mention is that in those teenagers that they were getting the liraglutide, the Saxenda before they go into the program, they had failed lifestyle modifications. They were not able to lose that weight. But then , once they went into this program, they had guidance for a year- 'Cause those studies were for a year, then they were able to get that meaningful 5% of weight loss, which tells you that, again, there may be many teenagers that they have tried, but they have not tried in the right way. And if they go 📍 under supervision or if they go under a structured program and they are consistent over time, like they don't try something for a month or they don't try something for two or three months and then they give up, they continue for a year with constant supervision, then they can get meaningful results. This is really the main reason that I decided to 📍 create 100 Days LIFT program because I wanted to offer teenagers this structure that they need. If you think that getting a medicine is all you need then I will tell you that there have been no studies that examine the effect of the medications without lifestyle modifications. What happens if you just take the GLP-1 and you don't do lifestyle modifications? Nobody studied that. In clinical practice, I can tell you there are effects. You will probably get some results, but those results are not going to be as significant as they are with lifestyle modifications. And we know for sure that one of the side effects of using GLP-1 medications 📍 is losing muscle mass, which can be mitigated if people are also doing strength training exercise, so again, we don't have comparison because there are not really studies of GLP-1 without doing the lifestyle modifications. But my suspicion is, and I could be wrong, but because as I said, there's no studies that has been done, but I think that these side effects of losing muscle, they're gonna be more pronounced in those people that don't take into account the importance of strength training and 📍 protein intake to maintain muscle mass while you are on GLP-1 medications. Finally, another thing I wanna point out- Is that when we compare GLP-1 medications with lifestyle modifications, we know there is 📍 📍 weight regain after you stop the GLP-1 medications. And I know that it's a chronic condition, and I'm not saying not to use it again. I prescribe it all the time. There are many people that need it, and they're very, helpful. I'm not against those medications, but I do wanna say that lifestyle modifications, once you establish those changes, no one can take this away. You can continue this. It, doesn't stop, right? It's, a lifestyle. It's not like I have GLP-1, it's giving me results, and then something happen and there's no more GLP-1 and weight regain comes back, right? GLP-1 if you take it away, you'll have weight regain. Lifestyle modifications, it's on you. No one can take that away from you if you learn how to live with that. So to summarize, if you decide to go on GLP-1, I highly recommend that you do this along a 📍 lifestyle modification program that has minimum 26 hours of contact with whoever does the lifestyle modification, so that you get the maximum benefit of the medicine with the minimal side effects, particularly the side effects that have to do with losing muscle mass. And the second thing is, remember one to five teenagers, roughly 20% of teenagers in those trials had similar meaningful 5% weight loss as the group that were taking the medication, just because they were under a structure program 📍 that had healthy diet, 📍 healthy exercise, 📍 psychological counseling, and support. This is very important. And think if you could be 📍 one in five teenagers that can do that, and If you had failed before the lifestyle modification, you can still achieve lifestyle modification success if you are in the right program. Just because you didn't have success last year, don't let that defeat you. 📍 You can still have that under the right program, and this is what the studies and the research has shown us. I hope it was helpful, and I hope it will make you consider again what you can do to improve your healthy lifestyle, what you can do to maximize the effect of the GLP-1 if you're taking GLP-1 medications. Or achieve your ideal weight without GLP-1 if this is not the right choice for you at the present moment. I'll talk to you soon. Take care.