WHO First Guidelines on Managing Child and Adolescent Obesity

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Key takeaways

The WHO released its first clinical guidelines on pediatric obesity, banning weight-loss drugs and bariatric surgery for children under 9 years old.
Globally, 170 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 live with obesity as of 2024, with the fastest rise occurring in low- and middle-income nations.
In India, a Lancet study found that obese boys grew to 7.3 million and obese girls grew to 5.2 million in 2022.
India's CNNS projects the nation will house 27 million obese youth, representing 11% of the global burden.
India's CDSCO permits semaglutide only for adolescents aged 12 and above who suffer from severe obesity with comorbidities like NAFLD.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released its first clinical guidelines to treat child and adolescent obesity.
The guidelines set age-based rules that ban weight-loss drugs and weight-loss surgeries for children under nine years old.
For adolescents between 10 and 19 years old, the agency allows limited medical treatments under strict supervision.

For children aged 0 to 9 years, the WHO strictly opposes anti-obesity drugs, including GLP-1 receptor agonists, and bariatric surgeries.
Treatment for young children must focus entirely on family-supported habits, healthy eating, and routine physical exercise.
For adolescents aged 10 to 19 years, doctors may consider approved weight-loss medicines only after structured lifestyle changes fail to work.
Doctors can consider bariatric surgery for adolescents with severe obesity under strict medical controls.

The WHO restricted weight-loss medicines because researchers lack long-term clinical trial data on young patients.
Scientists do not fully understand the long-term safety, correct dosage duration, or safe stopping steps for drugs like semaglutide in children.

Obesity treatment plans must address mental health issues like anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, stigma, and bullying.
Care teams should involve families to provide age-appropriate psychological support to young patients.

The guidelines suggest using active video games, known as exergames, to get children moving physical exercise into playtime.
Health teams can use pedometers, accelerometers, and fitness applications to reduce inactive screen time and encourage daily movement.

Global data from 2024 shows that 170 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 live with obesity worldwide.
This total includes 70 million children aged 5 to 9 and 100 million adolescents aged 10 to 19.
Childhood obesity is growing fastest in low- and middle-income countries.

A Lancet study reported that the number of obese boys in India rose from 0.2 million in 1990 to 7.3 million in 2022.
The same study showed that the number of obese girls in India grew from 0.2 million in 1990 to 5.2 million in 2022.
Data from the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) projects that India will have over 27 million obese youth aged 5 to 19.
This projection means India will account for 11% of the global burden of childhood obesity, worsening the country's dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has allowed semaglutide for adolescents aged 12 and above in India.
This Indian approval applies strictly to severe obesity cases linked with conditions like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and prediabetes.
Indian medical experts warn that weight-loss surgeries in children can cause poor nutrient absorption and disrupt normal physical growth.