The World Health Organization issued its first global guidelines on managing obesity in children and adolescents on 7 October 2026, responding to a sharp rise in a chronic condition that can affect physical health, mental well-being and quality of life from an early age.
WHO estimates that 170 million people aged five to 19 were living with obesity in 2024, including 70 million children aged five to nine and 100 million adolescents aged 10 to 19. The prevalence in this age group has quadrupled since 1990, rising from 2 per cent to 8 per cent.
The guidance strongly recommends structured dietary, physical-activity and behaviour-change interventions, delivered either individually or as part of a coordinated programme. It also conditionally supports supervised digital-health tools involving parents or caregivers.
For children aged nine and younger, WHO does not recommend obesity medicines, bariatric surgery or weight-loss devices. For adolescents aged 10 to 19, approved medicines may be considered only after a supervised, multimodal lifestyle programme has not produced the desired results.
Bariatric surgery is reserved for adolescents with severe obesity under strict conditions, while care should also address anxiety, depression, stigma, bullying and other mental-health concerns. WHO says treatment should focus on health and functioning, not weight loss alone.
The agency also stressed that clinical treatment cannot reverse the trend by itself. Governments need policies that make healthy food and physical activity more accessible and affordable through action in education, transport, urban planning and social protection.
Independent reporting by Reuters confirmed the guidelines’ central message: diet, exercise and counselling should take priority over GLP-1 medicines and surgery, particularly for younger children, while longer-term evidence on drug safety and effectiveness continues to develop.
References
- World Health Organization: First global guidelines on child and adolescent obesity, 7 October 2026
- WHO: Guidelines on the integrated management of obesity in adolescents, 7 October 2026
- Reuters: WHO endorses lifestyle changes over GLP-1 drugs, 7 October 2026