WHO Recommends No Weight-Loss Medicines, Surgery for Children
As the number of children and adolescents with obesity continues to grow globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its first global guidelines for obesity management in children and adolescents.
WHO estimates that approximately 170 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 years were living with obesity in 2024. This includes 70 million children aged 5–9 and 100 million adolescents aged 10–19. This has increased fourfold since 1990, from 2% to 8%.
According to WHO, obesity is a chronic condition that can impact children’s physical and mental well-being and raise their likelihood of developing conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the future. Children with obesity may also experience bullying, stigma and discrimination.
The new guidelines suggest that the primary treatment is structured support, which includes healthy eating, physical activity and behaviour change. Digital health programmes can also be implemented with parental/carer supervision.
For children aged 0–9, WHO does not recommend weight-loss medicines, surgery or weight-loss devices. In adolescents (10-19 years), approved medicines can be considered if supervised lifestyle programmes have not been effective.
WHO also recommends that health workers discuss mental health issues in conjunction with obesity, such as anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
The organisation states that tackling obesity in children should not be just about weight, but about their health, confidence, development and quality of life.
