The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended on Wednesday relying on a healthy diet, physical activity, and behavioral counseling instead of commonly used weight-loss medications, in its first global guidelines addressing rising rates of obesity among children.
Data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicate that obesity has surpassed underweight, becoming the most common form of malnutrition among school-age children and young children worldwide.
The World Health Organization said that weight-loss medications may be considered for children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 who are living with obesity, but only after other supervised interventions have failed.
Bariatric surgery may also be considered for children who have reached sufficient physical and mental maturity and are living with severe obesity, following six months of treatment without successful results.
For children under the age of 10, the organization recommended relying on a healthy diet, physical activity, and comprehensive behavioral support instead of obesity medications, surgery, or devices, given the lack of clarity regarding their long-term safety and effectiveness.
Luz Maria De-Regil, director of the WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, said that the evidence currently available remains insufficient to reach a final position regarding weight-loss medications based on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
She added that researchers continue to monitor the results of studies on the effectiveness and safety of these medications, with the recommendations potentially being reassessed as more data become available.
The World Health Organization stressed the need to make healthy diets and physical activity affordable, noting that treatment alone is not enough to halt the continued rise in obesity rates.
The organization reported that around 400 million people between the ages of 5 and 19 were overweight in 2024, including 170 million living with obesity, noting that the prevalence of obesity among this age group has nearly quadrupled since 1990.
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Author: Counselor Faisal Al-Mutairi.
Publication Date: October 7, 2026.
Updated: October 2026.
