Some serious questions are being asked about new injectable drugs for the treatment of obesity.

Semaglutide, an injectable medication marketed as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight-loss, is gaining a lot of hype, but it’s also raising serious question among health care officials who are worried about the reliance on medications for weight loss.

Clinical trials showed the drug resulted in an average loss of up to 15 per cent of body weight for people who are obese.

However, more than 90 per cent of those patients gained the weight back once their treatment ended.

Nutritionist with Eat Real Therapy, Kathy Roe, says the drug is even being considered for children who are obese, but the long-term effects are not known.

Roe says while touted as a weight loss solution for people who have struggled with their weight, she says the same results can be achieved through some changes in eating habits, especially cutting back on the “hidden” sugar found in drinks.

She says sugar is an appetite stimulant and if you’re able to dial the consumption of sugar down, even just a bit, and increase your consumption of macro-nutrients, then you can see the same results without having to take a drug, “and you have these tools for life.”