Dr Luz De Rigil, the World Health Organization’s Director of Nutrition and Food Safety, said the agency’s new guidance leaves little room for doubt about treatment for younger children. “For children under 10, WHO does not recommend obesity medicines, bariatric surgery or weight-management devices. This is a strong recommendation.”
The WHO issued the global guidelines on 7 October 2026 as obesity among younger children has risen sharply. It recommends healthy eating, exercise and combined behavioural support for children under 10 with obesity, citing doubts about the safety and long-term effectiveness of medicines, surgery and devices.
Obesity prevalence among children aged 5–9 has quadrupled since 1990, increasing from 2% to 8%. An estimated 70 million children in that age group are obese.
The scale extends beyond that group. An estimated 170 million children and adolescents worldwide are obese, while 35 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2024. UNICEF data show that obesity has overtaken underweight as the most common form of malnutrition among school children and adolescents worldwide.
Obesity raises the risk of a range of diseases, including type 2 diabetes.
The guidance arrives as drug companies test obesity medicines in children as young as six. Most such medicines are licensed only for children or adolescents older than 10, though some doctors prescribe them off-label to younger children.
In the European Union, Saxenda is permitted for some children aged six to 11. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Saxenda can also be used by certain adolescents aged 12 and older in the United States and the European Union.
The WHO specifically advises against glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, weight-loss injections such as Mounjaro and Wegovy for children under 10.
Laurence Grummer-Strawn, the WHO’s head of Nutrition and Food Safety Actions, said the central concern was what happens when treatment begins very early. “We don't really have evidence that you can use this as a temporary treatment and then turn to something dietary later on in life.”
The WHO does not oppose drug trials for obesity in young children. Its guidance instead sets diet, physical activity and behavioural support as the starting point of care for children under 10.
For adolescents aged 10 to 19 with obesity, the WHO said weight-loss drugs may be considered after supervised interventions have failed. Bariatric surgery could be considered for physically and mentally mature adolescents with severe obesity after six months of unsuccessful treatment.
The agency said obesity medicines, bariatric surgery and weight-management devices might be suitable for older children and adolescents when lifestyle approaches have failed and the individual is “mentally and physically prepared” for treatment.
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