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Novo Nordisk has announced positive results from its study evaluating safety and efficacy of semaglutide in children with obesity.

The study, coded STEP Young has shown that once-weekly semaglutide, when combined with lifestyle interventions, reduced body mass index (BMI) in children aged 6 to under 12 years living with obesity.

Childhood obesity is an increasingly important global public health challenge. According to the World Obesity Federation, an estimated 177 million children aged 5–19 were living with obesity globally in 2025, with the number projected to rise to 228 million by 2040.

Children living with obesity face an elevated risk of cardiovascular and metabolic complications, as well as psychosocial disorders including depression.

According to Ania M. Jastreboff, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics Endocrinology at Yale, childhood obesity is a strong predictor of adult obesity and increased risk for the early emergence of obesity-related complications and should therefore be addressed.

The STEP Young study achieved its primary endpoint, demonstrating a significantly greater reduction in BMI after 68 weeks among children receiving semaglutide compared with those receiving placebo.

The children receiving semaglutide were administered a maximum dose of either 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg once weekly, depending on their weight at the start of the trial.

Children in both treatment groups continued to receive lifestyle interventions throughout the study, including a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.

Notably, 40.4% of children treated with semaglutide were no longer classified as obese at week 68, compared with none of the children receiving placebo.

Novo Nordisk reported that the overall safety and tolerability profile observed in the STEP Young trial was consistent with findings from previous pediatric and adult studies of semaglutide and liraglutide.

Source: Novo Nordisk

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