The World Health Organization has issued its first global guidelines on child and adolescent obesity, advising structured diets and behavior changes while cautioning against GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, bariatric surgery, and medical devices for children under ten years old.
The global health agency released the guidelines on Wednesday, responding to an escalating public health trend that has seen obesity rates among school-aged children and adolescents quadruple since 1990. Global prevalence in the five-to-19 age group rose from 2% in 1990 to 8% in 2024, leaving approximately 170 million children and adolescents living with obesity worldwide, including 70 million children aged five to nine and 100 million adolescents aged 10 to 19.
The agency defines obesity as a chronic, relapsing disease that increases the risk of noncommunicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Young people living with the condition also face social and emotional hurdles, including stigma, discrimination, and bullying.
The rise of obesity is observed everywhere in all regions, and it is growing in low- and middle-income countries, according to the WHO.
Age-Tiered Restrictions on Drugs and Surgery
Under the new directives, clinical management is strictly divided by age group. The World Health Organization strongly recommends structured dietary, physical activity, and behavior-changing interventions for young patients, delivered individually or through multimodal programs. Digital health interventions receive conditional support when supervised by parents or caregivers.
For adolescents aged 10 to 19, approved medicines may be considered, but pharmacological interventions should only be weighed if a supervised multimodal lifestyle programme fails to yield the intended outcomes. Bariatric surgery is reserved under strict conditions for adolescents suffering from severe obesity.
Safety Concerns Surrounding GLP-1 Medications in Young Patients
The guidance on pharmaceuticals marks a cautious approach compared to adult care. The UN health agency endorsed a new generation of appetite-suppressing drugs, including GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic and Mounjaro, for adult obesity in December 2025. However, pediatric applications face a deficit of long-term safety and efficacy data.
Despite this lack of definitive long-term evidence, prescriptions for younger cohorts have climbed.
Certain treatments already hold regional approvals; Saxenda and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy are authorized for specific adolescents aged 12 and above within the European Union and the United States, and the European Union also permits Saxenda for some children aged six to 11.
We are particularly concerned in this age group, if you are starting children very early on to using a GLP-1 or drugs like this, when does that stop? We don’t really have evidence that you can use this as a temporary treatment and then turn to something dietary later on in life.
Laurence Grummer-Strawn, WHO’s head of Nutrition and Food Safety Actions
Laurence Grummer-Strawn further emphasized the agency’s cautious stance regarding pharmaceutical interventions, noting that health authorities are very cautious about jumping in without clear evidence.
Clinical Interventions Must Address Psychological Well-Being
The guidelines emphasize that clinical interventions must address psychological well-being alongside physical health. Anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and emotional dysregulation can drive unhealthy eating habits and social withdrawal, while bullying exacerbates distress.
Global health officials stress that individual treatment alone cannot reverse the epidemic. UN News, noted that physical activity and nutritious diets must additionally remain affordable and accessible, as the WHO stated that medical care by itself cannot stop the spread of obesity.