Below are the opening paragraphs in a WHO news release and a comment from me. Full text here:
https://www.who.int/news/item/07-10-2026-who-issues-first-global-guideli...
7 October 2026 News release
The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its first guidelines addressing the sharp rise in obesity among children and adolescents, setting out how health systems and health workers can deliver timely, evidence-based and people-centred care.
In 2024, 170 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 years were living with obesity, including 70 million children aged 5–9 years and 100 million adolescents aged 10–19 years. Obesity prevalence in this age group has quadrupled since 1990, rising from 2% to 8%.
Obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease that can be managed with effective care. Its consequences can begin early in life, increasing the risk of noncommunicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Children and adolescents living with obesity may also experience stigma, discrimination and bullying. Preventing and managing obesity is essential to protect the physical and mental health of children and adolescents and support their healthy growth, education, social well-being and quality of life.
For children and adolescents with obesity, WHO strongly recommends structured dietary, physical activity and behaviour-changing interventions delivered individually or as part of a multimodal programme. Digital health interventions are conditionally recommended with parent or caregiver supervision.
WHO does not recommend pharmacological treatment, bariatric surgery (weight-loss surgery that changes the stomach or digestive tract) or weight-loss devices for children aged 0–9 years.
For adolescents aged 10–19 years, treatment with approved medicines may be considered only when a supervized multimodal lifestyle programme has not achieved the desired results. Bariatric surgery may be considered under strict conditions for adolescents with severe obesity...
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COMMENT (NPW): The guidelines (on children and on adolescents) conclude with sections on dissemination (of the guideline) and implementation. I have not had time to read the full text, but I am not sure that the guidelines have addressed core issue relevant to HIFA. I invite comments:
What is the level of awareness and understanding among parents, adolescents and children about the health benefits of maintaining a normal body weight?
What approaches are most effective in supporting parents, adolescents and children in different contexts?
What simple resources are available to support primary health workers to address obesity given their time constraints?
What is the role of school education? (I think here of HIFA SO Children for Health: https://www.childrenforhealth.org/ )
What are governments doing in different countries (eg public health education, regulation of unhealthy foods, promotion of exercise)?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org