WHO says no obesity drugs, surgery for under-10s
The World Health Organization has issued new guidelines advising against the use of weight-loss drugs and bariatric surgery for children under 10. Instead, the agency emphasizes structured lifestyle interventions, such as healthy eating and physical activity, as the primary approach to addressing rising global childhood obesity rates.
Why it matters
These guidelines provide a critical health framework for managing the global surge in childhood obesity, distinguishing clinical treatment protocols for children from those recently approved for adults.
Medicine and surgery are not the answer for overweight children, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Releasing its first guidelines addressing the sharp rise in obesity among children and adolescents, the WHO instead strongly recommended structured diets, physical activity and behaviour changes.
"WHO does not recommend pharmacological treatment, bariatric surgery (surgery that changes the stomach or digestive tract) or weight-loss devices for children aged 0-9 years," it said.
"For adolescents aged 10-19 years, treatment with approved medicines may be considered only when a supervised multimodal lifestyle programme has not achieved the desired results.
"Bariatric surgery may be considered under strict conditions for adolescents with severe obesity."
Also covering this story
One other newsroom covered this event. We read that version too.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in