I am taking Ozempic. That’s what I’m telling my kids.

What are those needles on the fridge? asked my 11-year-old daughter, Nell, eyeing the boxed Ozempic medication she had not-so-discreetly placed on the top shelf of our refrigerator.

Oh, they’re mom’s new medicine, I said nonchalantly, frantically trying to figure out how I was going to deal with the fact that I’m taking a somewhat controversial weight loss drug with my pre-teen daughter.

That night I knocked on Nell’s bedroom door as she was getting ready for bed. I asked him if he wanted to talk about the medicine he had found. We ended up snuggling in her bed as I explained that my doctor had recommended that I take the medication because it would help balance my blood sugar.

I’m healthy, but the medication will help me get even healthier, I explained. At the time, Nell didn’t know what Ozempic was and hadn’t seen any videos online or heard of celebrities using the drug. We focused on my desire to get stronger and healthier, and I explained that one of the side effects is that my body might change.

I love my body now, and I will love my body if it changes, I explained. I had a similar conversation with my 9-year-old son. We agreed to keep the line of communication open and for the next few months we did. I was very tired at times and I will explain that it was one of the side effects of my medication. When we saw an ad for Ozempic on TV, we talked about the message of the spot and why the media was talking more and more about the drug.

Not everything the media says is true, I explained, which led to a deeper analysis of media literacy.

We learned that at school, Nell added.

After six months, I decided to come off Ozempic for several reasons: my insurance wouldn’t cover it and the side effects were affecting my quality of life. My kids didn’t ask so I didn’t mention that Id stopped taking it until they randomly noticed that the medicine was missing from the fridge.

Nicole Roder, a board-certified therapist in Columbia, Maryland, has personal and professional experience navigating these kinds of difficult conversations with your kids: Roder was also prescribed semaglutide in the past. I try not to tell parents what they are it should or I should not do. That said, I think it’s appropriate to tell your kids if you’re taking a semaglutide like Ozempic, Roder told HuffPost.

Roder recommends having an age-appropriate conversation with your children. For older children who have been exposed to different media about Ozempic, it is best to keep the lines of communication open.

The best way to balance these perspectives is to encourage open dialogue so you can learn what they’ve heard and provide corrective information if necessary. I recommend letting them ask questions. That goes for any sensitive topic, not just weight-loss drugs, Roder said. He added that you can also ask open-ended questions, such as What have you heard about this drug?

Roder said he had an open conversation with his own children while taking semaglutide, explaining that the drug was prescribed to help improve their health. Her children wanted to know if the needle hurt.

It’s best to keep this conversation about health and not body image, Roder said. Talk about your health reasons for taking the medicine and the health benefits you hope to get.

She added that it’s important to prioritize a healthy view of body image with your children. Never make disparaging comments about your body and focus on positive comments, such as your strong arms or the fact that your stretch marks are a reminder of the joy of bringing your children into the world, she said.

Samantha DeCaro, psychologist and director of clinical outreach and education at The Renfrew Centrehas a different opinion on the matter.

Parents should not discuss any methods or strategies they use to intentionally pursue weight loss, including diets or using weight-loss products, DeCaro said. She added that talking to your children about your medication use can increase the risk that they will internalize harmful beliefs about body image.

If your child notices that your body is changing, DeCaro says you should validate what the child is observing but do so in a completely neutral way. Remind your child that bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and that we can’t tell how someone feels or how healthy they look.

Therapist based in Los Angeles Torri Efron Pelton says that choosing to talk to your children about your weight loss medication is a personal choice that will depend on each child.

I encourage parents to take a holistic approach to health and not focus on weight loss, but on health goals and benefits, she said.

The first step is for parents to truly understand their own motives and goals [the weight loss medication] and what values ​​they want to pass on to their children, Efron Pelton said. If your child doesn’t ask questions or isn’t curious, the best way to do this would be to talk to your child the same way you would about any other medication or illness.

Efron Pelton recommended the following phrases and questions to guide the conversation:

• My body and my health have been changing, have you noticed?
• The weight loss is a side effect of the changes I have made. Here are some interesting tidbits about my health improvements and how they will improve my life and yours
• I am working on my health with my doctors and could lose some weight, but in the end, health is what matters regardless of weight.

DeCaro suggested responding with these phrases if your child notices and comments on your weight loss:

• Sometimes bodies change. Sometimes they get bigger, sometimes they get smaller, and sometimes they stay the same, but we can’t tell much about a person’s health or well-being by looking at their body size.
• Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and our bodies will change throughout our lives. Our genetics play a big role in how our body looks now and how it will look in the future.
• No matter what size or shape you are or how your body changes, you will always be loved and worth it.