Clinicians say hiding GLP-1 use from children can model shame about weight

Parents who keep their GLP-1 use secret from their children may be teaching those children that both weight and medication are things to keep quiet about, clinicians said in a local health report that aired Aug. 20, 2026, on WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia ^[1].

The report cited a recent study finding that half of parents taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss talk openly with their children about the medication ^[1].

The report did not name that study, its authors or the journal it appeared in, and it did not identify which products the parents were using ^[1]. The GLP-1 category includes semaglutide, sold as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, and tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound. The report referred to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs generally ^[1].

Parents who do talk openly largely worry about how changes to their bodies or their eating habits might affect their children, according to the report ^[1].

The clinicians' main point was about what secrecy signals. The report said secrecy around taking a GLP-1 can contribute to shame and stigma about medication ^[1]. It also noted that many adults who struggle with food or body image blame the role models who were dieting during their childhood ^[1].

The guidance offered focused less on what parents say than on what they do. The report recommended emphasizing health-promoting behaviors such as getting enough sleep and physical activity, instead of a focus on a number on the weight scale, and having parents who take these medications model eating regularly and enjoying a variety of foods ^[1]. Eating meals together as a family, whenever possible, was described as beneficial too ^[1].

The report treated the topic as a practical question for a large group of households, but it did not give a number for how many US adults take a GLP-1 or how many of them have children at home ^[1]. It focused on parents using the drugs for weight loss and did not discuss other reasons people take them ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

For adults taking semaglutide, tirzepatide or another GLP-1, the report offers an argument rather than evidence. The half-of-parents figure comes from a study that the report did not identify, and the advice about how to talk with children is expert opinion, not the result of research comparing families that disclose with families that do not ^[1].

The report also did not say how children reacted when a parent kept GLP-1 treatment secret, or whether any children were harmed. Those questions have not been answered ^[1].

What the report does suggest is that concealment is not a neutral choice in a household with children. The concern clinicians raised is that children pick up lessons about weight, food and medication from what they see, including what a parent works to hide ^[1]. The report did not recommend a script or a specific age at which to explain a parent's treatment ^[1].