Should Pharmaceuticals Be Used as Weight Loss Interventions for Adolescents Classified as Obese by BMI?

Ethically evaluating prescription of weight loss pharmaceuticals for adolescents classified by body mass index (BMI) as obese requires reconsideration of how medicine's overreliance on BMI as a diagnostic criterion supports a weight normative approach to health. This commentary on a case suggests that weight loss is not a safe, effective, or permanent method of health promotion. The unknown extent of pharmacotherapeutics' risks to adolescents in addition to the controvertible benefits of weight loss ethically preclude their prescription, despite scientific consensus to fight obesity by prescribing weight reduction. Copyright 2023 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Citation

Astrid Floegel-Shetty. Should Pharmaceuticals Be Used as Weight Loss Interventions for Adolescents Classified as Obese by BMI? AMA journal of ethics. 2023 Jul 01;25(7):E478-495

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PMID: 37432001

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