WHO’s first global guidelines on child obesity: support kids, don’t shame them

The World Health Organization has released its first-ever global guidelines on caring for children and teenagers living with obesity — and its headline message is support, not stigma. Childhood obesity has quadrupled since 1990: about 170 million young people aged 5 to 19 were living with obesity in 2024. The guidelines say the foundation of care should be healthy eating, physical activity, behavior change and mental-health support — not weight-loss drugs or surgery first. Medicines like GLP-1s are reserved for teenagers only after lifestyle programs haven’t worked, and surgery only under strict conditions. WHO is also calling on governments to make healthy food affordable for every family.