WHO says about 170 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 lived with obesity in 2024, with prevalence rising from 2% in 1990 to 8%. The new guidelines strongly recommend structured dietary, physical-activity and behavior-change interventions, while digital-health tools are conditionally recommended under parent or caregiver supervision. WHO does not recommend medicines, bariatric surgery or weight-loss devices for ages 0–9. For ages 10–19, approved medicines may be considered only when supervised multimodal lifestyle care has not achieved the desired result, while surgery for severe obesity requires strict conditions. The goal extends beyond weight loss to functioning, mental health and continued follow-up, and countries still need to adapt implementation to resources, access and equity.

• World Health Organization · WHO issues first global guidelines on child and adolescent obesity
• United Nations · WHO releases first global guidelines on child obesity as cases surge