The World Health Organization on Oct. 7, 2026, issued its first global guidelines on treating obesity in children and adolescents, recommending against weight-loss drugs, bariatric surgery and devices for children 9 and younger and making diet, physical activity and behaviour changes the foundation of care at every age.
About 170 million children and adolescents aged five to 19 were living with obesity in 2024, the WHO said, and the share has quadrupled from about two per cent in 1990 to roughly eight per cent. The agency said the figures show the need for treatment guidance, not only prevention.
The WHO published two documents, one for children and one for adolescents aged 10 to 19. The adolescent guideline covers drugs, bariatric surgery, diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep, and takes a primary health care approach.
Forbes reported that GLP-1 drugs, the class that includes semaglutide, may be considered for people 10 and older only if lifestyle interventions have not worked. SSBCrack News, citing the WHO, reported that surgery may be considered only for severe obesity in adolescents and only under strict conditions.
Dr. Luz María De Regil, director of the WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, said “the foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery,” according to Forbes. She also said “our priority must be to ensure that every child and adolescent can access quality care,” as quoted by SSBCrack News.
Forbes reported that the WHO cited insufficient evidence on the long-term effects of the drugs on growth and mental health in young children, and the risk of misuse. The agency’s director-general addressed the guidelines in his Oct. 7 media briefing, where he put the global total at more than 170 million.
The guidance arrives as drugmakers test the medicines in younger children. Forbes reported that Novo Nordisk said last month its drug Wegovy helped two of five obese children aged six to 12 reach a non-obese weight after one year, and that Eli Lilly is running paediatric trials of Mounjaro and Zepbound. The WHO issued a separate guideline on GLP-1 medicines for adults with obesity on Dec. 1, 2025.
In Canada, Health Canada’s regulatory decision summary lists Wegovy for adults and for adolescents aged 12 to under 18 with a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex, a body weight above 60 kilograms and an inadequate response to diet and exercise alone. The decision is dated June 29, 2023. That summary covers no one younger than 12.
A Public Health Agency of Canada summary, published in 2017, put the share of Canadians aged five to 17 who were overweight or obese at 30 per cent, up from 23 per cent of children aged two to 17 in 1978-79. The figure combines overweight and obesity and is older than the WHO’s 2024 estimate. Canada approved the first generic semaglutide injection for weight loss in June.
Neither Health Canada nor a Canadian paediatric organization had published a response to the WHO guidelines in the sources reviewed by Canada News Media as of Oct. 8.
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Via Forbes, SSBCrack News and the World Health Organization.
