Geneva: The World Health Organization has recommended diet, physical activity and behavioral support as the foundation of obesity treatment for children and adolescents, urging healthcare systems not to rely on weight-loss medicines or surgery as first-line approaches.
The guidance, released on October 7, marks the WHO’s first global guidelines specifically addressing the integrated management of obesity among children and adolescents. The recommendations cover children under 10 as well as adolescents aged 10 to 19, with treatment approaches tailored to age and individual needs.
For children under 10 living with obesity, the WHO recommends comprehensive support involving healthy diets, physical activity and behavioral interventions rather than obesity medicines, bariatric surgery or weight-management devices.
The agency noted that evidence on the safety and long-term effectiveness of such medical interventions in younger children remains limited. For adolescents aged 10 to 19, approved weight-loss medicines may be considered in some cases after supervised lifestyle interventions have not produced sufficient results.
Bariatric surgery may also be considered for adolescents with severe obesity who are physically and psychologically mature and have not responded to at least six months of treatment.
The WHO emphasized that obesity care should involve more than weight reduction. Its recommendations cover dietary interventions, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, behavioral support, digital health interventions, pharmacotherapy and, in appropriate cases, bariatric surgery.
Luz María De Regil, director of the WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, stated that evidence on GLP-1 medicines in younger populations remains insufficient. The organization is continuing to monitor clinical research on their effectiveness and safety and could revise its recommendations as additional evidence becomes available.
Some GLP-1 medicines are already approved for certain younger patients in the United States and European Union. However, the WHO guidance places these treatments within a broader care approach rather than recommending medication as the primary response to childhood obesity.
The recommendations come as childhood and adolescent obesity continues to rise worldwide. WHO estimates that about 400 million people aged 5 to 19 were overweight in 2024, including around 170 million living with obesity. Obesity prevalence among this age group has quadrupled since 1990.
The agency also stressed that healthy food, opportunities for physical activity and behavioral support need to be accessible and affordable. It noted that medical treatment alone cannot reverse the broader rise in obesity and called for health systems to provide comprehensive, people-centered care for affected children and their families.
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