170 Million Young Lives: WHO’s First Obesity Guidelines Put Family Care at the Centre

Dr Luz María De Regil, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, described comprehensive support for healthy eating, physical activity and lasting behaviour change as the foundation of care.

A child living with obesity needs care that supports their health, confidence and everyday life, with help that families can access and sustain. The World Health Organization's first guidelines on obesity care for children and adolescents, released on 7 October, place that support at the centre of treatment, giving health systems and health workers recommendations for timely, evidence-based care shaped around each young person. The scale of the challenge is stark: in 2024, 170 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 were living with obesity, including 70 million aged 5–9 and 100 million aged 10–19. Prevalence across this age group has quadrupled since 1990, increasing from 2% to 8%, according to the WHO announcement.

Everyday Support Forms the Foundation of Care

Obesity is a chronic disease that can return after improvement, and effective care can help children manage it and protect their health as they grow. Its effects can begin early, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with stigma, discrimination and bullying adding pressures that can affect education, friendships and quality of life. WHO strongly recommends structured support for eating habits, physical activity and behaviour change, delivered as individual interventions or through a programme that combines several approaches. Digital health interventions receive a conditional recommendation and should involve supervision from a parent or caregiver, keeping family participation central to the support a child receives.

Dr Luz María De Regil, Director of WHO's Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, described comprehensive support for healthy eating, physical activity and lasting behaviour change as the foundation of care. Her message places access to quality services and supportive environments from an early age at the heart of helping children achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The recommendations ask health workers to consider each child's age, development and family circumstances, with continuing care and long-term follow-up that support health, daily functioning and well-being beyond changes on the weighing scale.

Medicines and Surgery Have Clear Age Limits

For children aged 0–9, WHO does not recommend weight-loss medicines, bariatric surgery or weight-loss devices, making the age distinctions an essential part of the new guidance. Bariatric surgery is an operation that changes the stomach or digestive tract to support weight loss. Adolescents aged 10–19 may be considered for approved medicines only after a supervised lifestyle programme combining several forms of support has failed to achieve the desired results. Surgery may be considered under strict conditions for adolescents with severe obesity, placing these treatment decisions within a carefully restricted pathway rather than making them routine options for every young person.

Mental Health and Supportive Communities Matter

Anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and difficulty managing emotions can contribute to unhealthy eating, reduced physical activity and withdrawal from social life, creating challenges that deserve attention alongside physical health. Children experiencing weight-related bullying or stigma may face further emotional distress, which makes respectful, inclusive care especially important. Mental health is not the main focus of these guidelines, but WHO asks health workers to address obesity and mental health conditions early and together, using approaches suited to the child's development and involving their family.

Treatment alone cannot reverse rising obesity rates, and families need environments that make healthy food and physical activity accessible and affordable. WHO calls for regulatory and fiscal measures, supported by action across education, urban planning, transport and social protection. The new guidance joins existing adult recommendations to support obesity care from childhood through adulthood and forms part of WHO's wider response, including its acceleration plan to stop obesity.