The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its first global guidelines on managing obesity in children and adolescents. The recommendations suggest that obesity medications and bariatric surgery can be considered for children as young as 10 years old, but only under strict conditions. The WHO emphasized that physical activity, healthy eating, and behavioral changes should be the main strategies to combat childhood obesity. These treatments are not advised for children under 10, and the organization stressed the need for a comprehensive approach that includes mental health support. One class of obesity medications, known as GLP-1 analogs (aGLP-1), was originally developed to treat diabetes. These drugs help reduce appetite and promote a feeling of fullness by mimicking a hormone that stimulates insulin production. The WHO had previously recommended the use of aGLP-1 for weight management in adults in December 2025. Now, the organization has extended these recommendations to children and adolescents under 19 years of age. According to the WHO, medicinal treatments, bariatric surgery, and weight-loss devices should not be used for children aged 0 to 9. For adolescents aged 10 to 19, approved medications can be considered only after a supervised support program combining lifestyle changes has failed to achieve the desired results. Bariatric surgery may also be an option for adolescents with severe obesity, but only if they have completed their physical and mental development and if other interventions have not worked after six months. Maria Nieves Garcia Casal from the WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety Department explained that bariatric surgery can be considered during adolescence in cases of severe obesity that lead to complications like type 2 diabetes or hypertension. However, this should only be considered after other approaches, such as exercise, dietary changes, and lifestyle modifications, have been tried for at least six months. Luz Maria De Regil, director of the WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety Department, noted that in 2024, 70 million children aged 5 to 9 and 100 million adolescents aged 10 to 19 worldwide were affected by obesity. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 5 to 19 has increased from 2% in 1990 to 8% in 2024, with the WHO noting that while obesity rates are rising globally, some high-income countries have managed to slow the trend slightly.