The Ben Mulroney Show - Ben asks if prescribing Ozempic to 13-year-olds is a step too far

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Ben asks if prescribing Ozempic to 13-year-olds is a step too far If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Okay, Martin, let's try one. Remember, big. You got it. The Ford It's a Big Deal event is on. How's that? Uh, a little bigger. The Ford It's a Big Deal event. Nice. Now the offer? Lease a 2025 Escape Active all-wheel drive from 198 bi-weekly at 1.99% APR for 36 months with $27.55 down. Wow, that's like $99 a week.

Yeah, it's a big deal. The Ford It's a Big Deal event. Visit your Toronto area Ford store or Ford.55 down. Wow, that's like $99 a week. Yeah, it's a big deal. The Ford, it's a big deal event. Visit your Toronto area Ford store or Ford.ca today. Welcome back to the Ben Mulrooney show. A few years ago with the introduction of GLP-1s into society, we're talking about the Ozempics and the Wegovies of the world. It looks like medicine has come to the rescue of a society that has lost control of

a health crisis and has stemmed the tide of people who have been fighting for a very long time to get their weight and their health under control. And now it looks like the next volley in that march towards curbing obesity in Canada may be at the feet of young Canadians. There is a new Canadian guideline. It's the first update in guidelines for doctors. In over 20 years, it recommends that in addition to advice on diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes, doctors should consider offering some of today's weight loss drugs to children starting as young as 12 or I guess it's lap band surgery, bariatric surgery for teens 13 and up without waiting to see whether less invasive interventions alone prove wanting. And I wanted to open this up to our listeners at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225. Talk. I want to have, I think, a respectful conversation here. I'm not trying to have a conversation about body shaming or ascribing responsibility

where I don't know whether or not it lands with the individual. Certain people have medical conditions that prevent them from exercising. They have dietary issues. They have chemical imbalances in their blood. They may have trauma in their lives that makes it harder to adopt healthy lifestyle choices. That's not the conversation I want to have. I want to ask you, are you somebody fighting with your weight and have tried everything?

Is this the off-ramp that you're looking for? Would you have wanted it at 12 or 13 years old? Or can we ask ourselves respectfully, is this us waving the white flag as a society saying, we're just gonna give up on trying to inculcate the healthiest possible traditions and lifestyles in our kids at a young age because we know that if something happens and they start putting on weight we can give them an injection and it'll all be better. So let me be very clear I am not trying to have a conversation about fat people need to lose weight and they should get on a treadmill.

That is not the question. For a lot of people it's a very, very serious medical issue and this could be the solution. And it may be right for some kids, but if this is a blanket magic bullet, I wonder what that says about us as a society. John, welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. Hi, how are you? I'm well, thank you. Good. Listen, I think we're really kidding ourselves as a society. We have to be honest with ourselves. The vast majority of people, children or otherwise,

have a volume food issue and a quality of food. There's no question that processed food and all the chemicals in it adds to this problem. But so does the volume of food. So this Ozempic for kids, let alone adults is a complete lie. It's all about money. And it's a complete cop out in what's happening with our world and food.

Yeah. Well, listen, I thank you for you know, you've, you've, you've staked your claim to that that position. I'm glad you you offered it up and I hope you have a wonderful day. And look, I don't have a deeply held belief in this conversation yet. That's why I want to talk to our listeners at 416-870-6400-1888225 talk. Yeah, there are a lot of there's a lot of options out there that are really unhealthy that are leading to bad health outcomes. And there are I mean, listen, never before have there been more gyms never been never before have we have we known about the dangers of poor diet and of a sedentary lifestyle, and yet we have this health epidemic that we are dealing with. And I just I'm just asking the question is the is this the right move? Nick, welcome to the show. Hello. Hello. So

you've got a 15 year old daughter struggling with her weight. Yeah. So as we, as my daughter and daughter's 15, she's struggling with her weight. And we've gotten to the point where we have to keep all the snacks, all the bad food out of the house. It makes it very difficult for us. Like we have to plan, like plan dinners on a regular basis where we're not we're not stuck eating out. Yeah. And we're trying to limit all that. You're trying to provide healthy options at home? Yes. Yeah. And but you're getting pushback from your 15-year-old? Not so much pushback, but it's very difficult because she still goes to school and those snacks are still there.

Can I ask how, and I don't want to be intrusive and I want to be respectful, but can you tell me how she feels about herself, about her self-worth? She had a lot of depression problems. We've kind of corrected that. I think some of her friends support help her in that, but it's an uphill battle on a regular basis. So let me ask you, Nick, if you went to the doctor and the doctor said, no, this is an avenue that we can now pursue.

We can prescribe something like Ozempic, and that can help cut out, as they say, the food noise, those constant thoughts of snacking, and it can help reduce her weight. Is that something that you think you would be happy to pursue, and do you think she would want to do it? So I'll be honest my wife and I have have gone that route with ourselves. And has it has it helped you? Has it helped you? I lost 40 pounds last summer. Congratulations. Do you feel better about yourself? I know because I gained 30 to back. Oh no. Yeah, well that you see that therein lies the rub right? That's the one thing I hear. It can it

can be a temporary fix but unless you fill that void while you're losing the weight, unless you fill the void with sort of an underpinning of a more healthy lifestyle and more healthy habits, you're going to put the weight back on. It was complete exercise. Yeah. Yeah. Combination diet, what I was taking plus the the exercise all that made that all happen. Yeah. Well, as soon as the winter came around, yeah, I it was very, very difficult.

Nick, I want to thank you for sharing your story with us today. I appreciate it. Now, I hope you have a great day and my best to your daughter. Thank you. Thank you so much. Who do we have next? Ben, welcome to Ben Mulroney show. Good morning, Ben. It's Ben. Oh, yeah, I'm gonna speak specifically about children or minors anyone under say 15. Yes, it's 100% white flag, we've given up as a society and abdication as parents. And you see and there's nothing in life for free with with those empathic we also now are seeing

in life for free. With with Ozempic, we also now are seeing that you lose bone density and muscle density. So this is opening up a huge conversation about parents, divorced parents, single parents, overworked parents, different lifestyles from say our grandparents, how they live. And with children especially, in every case that I've seen, this is anecdotal, but in every single case that I've seen where the children were growing up and they were overweight, visibly overweight, some of them even obese, by the time they hit their early teens,

they really began to thin out as long as they were moving. And so to get them like, and you see this, so that's one issue. It's like, give them time. Ben, I want to thank you for the call. I've got a lot of people that are clearly fired up by this conversation. So thank you so much. Let's welcome Patrick to the Ben Mulroney show. Hello, Ben. How are you? I'm well, thank you. Yes, I'm on McGovey. I had a sector we done four years ago and it was botched and I had it re-worked and I gained 20 pounds almost immediately.

I never had a weight problem in my life. I went on Ozempic and doing what we call, we used to say, the same as Ozempic and it changed my life. Lost over 20 pounds, changed my eating habits. I do believe that no one are, they should wake up around 16 years old when kids go through puberty, but some people are just born into being obese and it's a big battle. Yeah. Yeah. And so like to me, I agree with what you say. What I'm beginning to understand is, yeah, there are some kids who put on a lot of weight

in their early teens, but then they have a growth spurt and they shoot up. And so to put them on a drug like Wigovia or Ozempic so early could deprive them of sort of that weight that they need so that they can go through that growth spurt. Thank you for the call, Patrick. Let's take a couple more. Brandon, welcome to the show. Hey, how's it going? Well, thank you.

It's a quick fix. A lot of people, they want the quick fix. I'll be honest with you. And it's on both spectrums. Because I'm a natural bodybuilder, I see it from bodybuilding perspective. People want the quick fix for the muscle mass and also with the weight loss. Yeah, well some do. And thank you very much. Listen, we got to take a break. I want to thank everybody for their calls. We're gonna take more of those calls when we come back. So if you're on the line, stick

around. More on this conversation on the Ben Mulroney show. Welcome back to the Tuesday edition of the Ben Mulroney show and we're taking to the phones at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225 talk, we are discussing this new movement within Canadian medicine to suggest to patients or people dealing with obesity or weight issues as young as 12, that maybe the off ramp that they need, the solution that they need is one of these new GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic or Wigovie. And we're asking you how you feel about that because this is a contentious issue.

Is it part of this new solution of medically treating obesity? Or is it an off ramp that suggests that we've given up on truly living healthy lifestyles? Let's start with Adam. Adam, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Yes, hi. Hi, I just want to say like, I'm, I've been healthy. I've been thin all my life As soon as I hit I'm a father as soon as I hit 40 my weight started increasing and increasing I tried fasting Changed my lifestyle. I didn't do much workout other than walking but then

Now I'm 50 pounds overweight and my doctor's like, you know, I have the belly fat So the doctor is like you need to do something. So I joined the weight program and the first thing they ask medication or lifestyle. Yeah. I said, I already tried the lifestyle. It didn't work. I mean, I, you know, cut down on cokes and all this stuff. Um, so now they're offering me Zempik, but Zempik is not cheap. It's actually 200 to $500 a month. And Mugovia is $900 a month. Is it really? Wow, I didn't know that there would be such a,

I thought they were pretty much the same drug packaged differently. I didn't know that there would be such a swing. So Mugovia is the most expensive. The way they say Mugovia is 25 to 30% effective. Zempik is 15 to 25 percent effective. It's effective. And then the other ones go down and so on. So, Adam, first of all, let me say I'm sorry you're having this struggle and I do hope you find your way to a healthier lifestyle. I know that when I committed

to a healthier living a few, about a year ago. So many wonderful things changed in terms of my outlook and how I saw myself and the confidence that I have and my ability to be more active and present with my kids. I mean, there's so many wonderful knock-on effects from that. But let me ask you, because you said you've tried the healthy lifestyle, so now you're willing to try the medicine, but are you, in your mind, when you think the medicine, do you think that that's gonna solve the problem

or do you appreciate that there should probably be a lifestyle change that comes with it? The thing is I cut down the sugar. I cut down a lot of things. Like we used to actually have a lot of Coke, but now we do Coke Zero between me and my wife. We just share the one can. But everything else I've already tried.

So, but the thing is this is zempik, the way the doctors are promoting it is to affect your brain to not to eat anymore. Yeah, yeah, they call it food noise. It cuts out the food noise. And I do appreciate that, but also, like Shirley, you appreciate that if you go off of it, that food noise comes back, unless you've taught yourself,

unless you've taken the opportunity to train yourself, to fill that void left by the food noise with more healthy habits, you're just gonna go back to the way things were once you go off the drug. Yeah, no, my thing is if I could take a dumping and just go back down to 50 pounds, then I can make a dramatic,

I mean, I've already done the dramatic lifestyle change, but it's just maintaining me. I gotcha. If I can lose that 50 pounds, then I can stay on it, maintain it. Well, Adam, I wish you the best of luck. Like I said, healthier is better, right? Whatever that means for you, by the way,

whatever it means for you, I'm not sitting here telling you you gotta look a certain way. Whatever healthier means for you, you may end up as, you could be the healthiest person who looks, presents as if they are carrying more weight than me. So I'm not here telling you what you have to look like,

but by and large, I think we can paint with a broad brush that if you can take advantage of the space, the freedom, the unleashing of your potential that a drug like Ozempic gives you, and you take the time to underpin the food silence that comes from that with healthy habits, then you are more likely to keep the weight off. At least that's how I understand it. Aaron, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Thanks for calling in.

Hey, how are you? I'm well, thanks. Yeah, good. So my biggest concern with these like semi glutides, like that was epic, is that there's been studies on them that suggest that they also decrease bone density and affect your connective tissue. So if you take these medications, you gain the weight or you lose the weight, but you also lose bone density and then you come off it, but you haven't really made a lifestyle change. You've only used the medication. Do you have any sense? Do you have any sense of like, I mean, if people use it for a short term, like six months

or so, I can't imagine that it would cause irreparable harm to your bone density or muscle tissue. I would certainly hope not. Yeah, yeah. But you know, using it even in the short term. I know I'm a lifestyle guy personally, I love kettlebells, my job entails me to do a lot of heavy lifting. So I have to focus on my on my connective tissue because I'm in my early. Yeah, of course. But you know, I don't know. I don't know. But the whole

look with with me that every time I tried to lose weight in the past, it was always like, I was trying to use a hack. The Paleo diet is, you know, it's not a diet. It's a hack. You know, if you can eat as much bacon as you want, you'll lose weight. And I was never able to keep it off. The only time I've ever done anything meaningful, because now I've been fairly healthy for about a year now, has been when I realized if I walk everywhere in the spring and summer and fall, and if I limit how much I eat,

I'll be in a calorie deficit and I will lose weight. I mean, that to me is pretty simple. But for other people, I get it. It's a harder mountain to climb. But that doesn't change the universal truth that making those healthy changes will lead to healthier outcomes. And Aaron, I appreciate that as the older we get.

Can I ask you how old you are again? 43. 43, I'm 49. And it doesn't get any easier, all the more reason to invest in those healthy ideas. And to take it back to the original part of the conversation, Aaron, if we start inculcating in kids as young as 12, that the problems that they're facing terms of their their body weight and their body image can be solved with a shot. I don't know if we're

necessarily setting themselves setting them up for success on a whole raft of fronts moving forward. No, it's going to be it'll be a lifetime struggle because if they do have to, like for those people that are in, in a serious situation where they're extremely overweight and they have to be on it for a long time, well, they're 12, 13 years old, they lose all this weight, but by the time they're 20, you know, they're, they're physical, their physical capabilities are completely diminished. And what are we telling them? Because look, to, to, to, to become healthier,

it requires dedication. It requires commitment. And if at 12 years old, we are finding, we're giving them something that amounts to a shortcut. And again, I'm not trying to say every case is like this, but if you do that, what are you telling them about the hard stuff that they are gonna have to face later on in life beyond their weight? 100%. Like, you know, dealing with issues at work.

Yeah, yeah. Well, exactly. Aaron, thank you so much. I wish you the very best. And keep it up, my friend. Linda, welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. Hi. What our family did was we cut out refined sugars and all seed oils. We bumped up our protein and we all lost weight. Yeah. And you didn't cut down on your food consumption. You continued to eat the same amount. Those two factors, those three factors created a huge difference in our family.

Linda, you're absolutely right. More protein, less complex carbohydrates, I guess, but eating whole foods as much as you can. And again, I need to put these caveats in there because people are very sensitive to these conversations and they can hear a word and get triggered. I understand that certain people in certain socioeconomic situations do not have access to the healthy food that others may take for granted. But by and large, if you can increase your consumption of protein and tone down the the processed foods, you're going to come out

on top. And so yeah, it's Listen, I want to thank everybody for calling in this is it's not. It's it's it's a delicate conversation. I'm not trying to be I I don't, I'm not positioning myself as an expert in any way, shape or form. I'm simply somebody who has experienced a yo-yo in my weight over my life, and I've been fortunate. I'm pretty tall, so I can, I can wear a few extra pounds, but I got to a point where I was literally at a crossroads, right? Nothing fit anymore. And I was tired of wearing sweatpants. And the next step was to just go out and buy a new wardrobe. And I just thought to myself, I don't believe my dad would want that for me.

And I went in the other direction and I was really glad I did. If Ozempic can be part of that healthy journey for you, I support it entirely, but it can't be the only thing. You have to take advantage of the weight loss to make sure that when Ozempic goes away, you have the tools required to keep the weight off. This is the Ben Mulroney Show on a Tuesday.

Thank you so much for spending a little bit of it with us. In 1970, the Canada Elections Act was amended to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. It's been 18 since 1970. And now there is a push to lower it even further to 16. Yesterday on the show, I had Jayden Braves join me. He's 16. He is the leader of an organization

called Young Politicians of Canada. And they wanna see the federal voting age lower to 16, is what he said in an interview with CTV quote. I hope that by the time I'm 18 16 year olds will be two years younger than me and we'll have the chance to show up at the polls and cast a ballot said Braves who is also involved with vote 16 Canada and has a motion before Toronto City Council to extend municipal voting rights to 16 and 17 year olds.

He said that's what's fair. That's what represents constitutional democracy. And that's what will protect our future at large. He thinks it will boost civic engagement and voter turnout. He said his organization has proposed implementing standardized civics education to ensure Canadians understand the basics of Canada's political system.

He points out that in Ontario, Ontario is the only province that has a standardized civics course. And even in Ontario, our students are failing that civics course. And so I put it to you, our listeners, 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK, would you be okay with 16 year olds, 17 year olds voting in the federal election? I'll tell you where I'm coming from on this one.

I'm sort of genetically predisposed to not liking this idea. And it's no disrespect to Jaden, who acquitted himself admirably in his defense of his position. My problem is I spent so much of my time in Quebec, living in Quebec, being a Quebecer at heart, and I lived there for so long,

that anytime separatism would rear its ugly head, there was a push by separatists to lower the voting age because they wanted to play on, because separatism is an emotional issue. You can't make an economic case for why separatism, at least in Quebec, is a good idea. And so if you prey on, play on people's emotion, you are more likely to win that fight.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had our own, our country? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had our own this and that, or, maître chez nous, all that stuff. And so in my mind, it was always a play to prey on the youth vote to get them over the finish line. And I never liked that. So in my head, 16 year olds are more prone to,

I don't know, susceptible to, I don't know, being swayed. And look, and I'll go further. Like a 16 year old by and large is living at home. 16 year old, more likely than not, hasn't had a significant job or felt the pressures of what is required to live an adult life. And therefore asking them to vote on tax issues and immigration. And I just don't know that they've thought long

and hard about those things. There are some absolutely who can Jaden Braves being one of them. But is he an outlier? I don't know. Let's let's let's ask you guys and welcome to the show. Nathan. Nathan should 16 year olds be able to vote? No, no. Why not? Good answer. No. Their brains aren't developed enough. And that's why we have that's why we have that's why they're still youths. Their brains are not developed enough to make, you know, decisions that are as consequential as voting in politicians who can basically change and very, very impactful decisions

should not be left in the hands of 16 year olds. And if, and if, if it was to go through, it would have to go through hand in glove with the elimination of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. If you think you're responsible enough to vote in the prime minister of the country, then you can't go and commit armed robbery and not expect to go to federal prison for 10 years. That's interesting.

That's it. Now, Nathan, that's a very good, very good, interesting point. I will point out to you, Nathan, I put that question to Jaden Braves yesterday about brains not being developed enough. He said, according to science, our brains are developing. The neuroplasticity is still in effect up until we're 29.

That came from Jaden yesterday. So our brains are developing up until we are 29. And so that would be his counterpoint, but I do appreciate what you had to say there. Shane, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Yeah. What you're saying, Ben, honestly, I think at 16, I don't think kids are informed enough. I think their sources are completely wrong where they get their information from. I mean, you can't make political decisions based on TikTok, which is what half kids get their information. Even my own mother gets her information

from TikTok. It drives me nuts. That's not the exclusive domain of 16 year olds. Oh, no, it's absolutely not. But really, have you ever met a kid who's really well informed about politics? The guy I had on the show yesterday was he didn't even sound like a 16 year old. Exactly, Ben. You might have the exception here or there, but honestly, ask any average kid these days what their IQ is and they'll just tell you purple. Shane, thank you, man. I appreciate the call. Jesse, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Should 16 year olds be able to vote? Absolutely not. 6, 15, 16, 17, 18.

You know what they like? They like shiny things. So it's gonna be the pop culture candidate. So if it was now, or even a few years ago, it would have been Jack Mead. Look at his custom-made suits. Look at his Rolex. He's getting in the Maserati. And then Ben, what about the we type events

that that type of voting age would compel? Tens of thousands of kids in stadiums getting whipped up to vote by whoever is unsuspecting. Yeah, like I said, I've given you where I come from on this. I think that there's a play. But you know, the argument could be if all of a sudden you've got these these young 16 and 17 year olds mobilized, that might get older Canadians off the couch to make sure that their voice is represented. It could be a catalyst. Again, I'm just I'm just speculating it could be a catalyst to drive up voter turnout across the board. What do you think?

Dangerous game to play. That's what I would say. You're you're going to inflict one pain on on part of the voting population to appease another. I'm not saying you're saying that, but that's what it would look like. Right. So, oh, if we don't do this, then they'll do that. Yeah. So then it's a, you know, it's a it's a it's a battle of of constituents and not candidates. All right, Jesse, we're gonna leave it there. Thanks for the call. And let's welcome Ron to the Ben Mulroney show. Ron, should 16 year olds be able to cast a ballot?

Thank you for taking my call, Ben. I don't think so. I think they're still too young and influential. So guys like Gerald Butch could get a hold of them. But I think we should leave it at 18. Yeah, well, yeah. The only counterpoint I would make, and this is just for the sake of argument,

is that I wonder what kind of debate they were having in 1970 when they lowered it from 21 to 18. I wonder what people who were past the cutoff, who were 21, 22, 23, had to say about the 18-year-olds, and the 19-year-olds, and the 20-year-olds who want to vote. I wonder whether they were having the same argument. What do you think about that, Ron? Probably, they probably have the same talking points, but I don't know, I think, yeah, I have no everybody. And look, again, I think it's a really interesting intellectual exercise. I do respect what one of our previous callers said. Look, it, look, it's gotta come part and parcel with sort of a recognition that if you are adult enough

to cast a vote, which is pretty important, then you should be adult enough to, I mean, if that's a decision that you are able to make with the requisite forethought, then if you're a 16 year old who commits a crime, I don't know why you should be diverted into sort of a youth justice lane, you should be treated as an adult there too. That I think I absolutely think

that that should be part of the conversation. If we're saying 16 year olds have the requisite knowledge to form and make an informed decision on who they want to lead this country, then they have the requisite knowledge to be treated as an adult if they make a wrong decision and find themselves face to face with the criminal justice system. Very, very interesting. Thank you all for your calls.

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