WHO's first child-obesity guidelines choose cooking, play and counseling over weight-loss drugs

The World Health Organization's first global guidelines on child obesity put diet, exercise and counseling ahead of popular weight-loss drugs; for children under 10, no obesity medication, surgery or devices, due to safety doubts. Obesity has quadrupled since 1990 — about 170 million children and adolescents living with obesity and 400 million overweight in 2024. Dr. Luz María De Regil, director of WHO's Department of Nutrition and Food Safety: the foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery, but access to comprehensive support.