◆이코노미스트가 글로벌 차세대 경제 리더, 청소년 기자단 영 저널리스트와 함께합니다. 영 저널리스트 기자단은 프리미엄 경제지 이코노미스트, 논술 전문 기관 Ni 에듀케이션과 함께 주요 시사 이슈를 팔로우업하고 직접 기획, 취재, 기사 작성 활동을 하며 사회적 문제를 고심하고 해결 방안을 제시하는 과정을 경험하게 됩니다. 이번 기사는 영 저널리스트 기자단이 현 사회현상에 대해 학생들 시선에서 ‘왜’라는 질문을 갖고 직접 취재해 작성한 기획기사입니다. 영 저널리스트 기자단의 기획기사는 영문과 국문, 두 형태로 게재합니다.  

[Young journalist Sookyung Her] As K-pop culture continues to gain global popularity, there are more teenagers who want to become K-pop idols. At the same time, the preference for slim bodies had spread through social media, and the interest in weight loss medication had increased. Especially Wegovy and Mounjaro are now becoming familiar to teenagers due to social media.

Anti-obesity medication is not medication for improving one’s appearance. It’s made for people that have lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and have problems during daily life. Therefore, the patient's personal health condition and degree of obesity should be considered when the medication is used. Adolescents, in particular, require a more cautious approach because they are still growing.

What do teenagers think about weight loss medication? The result of a survey by 11 teenagers said that 63.7% of respondents were familiar, or heard about weight loss medication. When asked about the main reasons for using obesity medications, the most common response was “to lose weight,” at 54.5%, followed by “for appearance or cosmetic reasons,” at 27.3%. However, only 18.2% responded that it’s for treating obesity medically.

As anti-obesity medications gained rapid popularity among teenagers, cases of medications spreading through informal courses rather than in medical institutions increased. The highest path that the teenagers heard about anti-obesity was “Friends or Family”(81.8%), followed by “Social Media like Instagram or Tiktok”(36.4%). These results show that teenagers learn about anti-obesity medication mostly through advertisements rather than medical institutions.

Then, how do teenagers view obesity medications? Most of the teenagers that participated in the survey had positive views of the effectiveness of the medication. 54.6% of them selected positive answers in a question asking “Do you think obesity medications are an effective medical treatment for people who need them?”. Additionally, when “Is there excessive interest in obesity medications” was asked, 54.6% of respondents answered “agree” or “strongly agree.”

Through this survey, it’s difficult to say that K-pop culture contributes to the misuse of obesity medication among teenagers. However, since most responses of the survey turned out as “wanting to be slimmer” and “be confident in appearance” for the anii-obesity medication, this shows that society idealizes the slim figures like k-pop idols and celebrities alongside the perception of obesity medications as a means of losing weight.

To prevent teenagers from misusing anti-obesity medication requires effort from medical institutes and also from the government. Societal changes are also needed to help teenagers view themselves with a focus on their health, rather than thinking of a particular body type as ideal. Also, awareness should spread that anti-obesity medication is not a ‘diet pill,’ but a treatment that should be used only by people who really need it and according to appropriate guidelines.

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