WHO issues first guidelines on childhood obesity: No weight loss drugs for children under 10

On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released the first set of guidelines for managing obesity in children and adolescents. These recommendations strongly advise against the use of weight loss drugs or surgery for children under the age of ten, with only limited exceptions for adolescents aged 10 to 19.

The guidelines permit the use of drugs and surgery for adolescents who are severely obese, suffer from lifestyle-related conditions like type-2 diabetes or insulin resistance, or have uncontrolled hypertension. They also allow for such interventions if lifestyle modifications, like diet and exercise, have not been successful after six months.

Dr Jothydev Kesavadev, chairperson of Jothydev's Diabetes and Research Centre, emphasized the importance of early intervention to prevent lifelong complications from lifestyle diseases.

The guidelines are based on existing evidence regarding diet, exercise, digital technologies, drugs, surgeries, and combined behavior change programs. They strongly endorse structured diets, physical activity, and behavior change as the most effective methods for managing obesity in both children and adolescents. However, they caution against the use of surgeries such as gastric bypass and weight loss drugs like GLP-1 in children under nine years old, noting the lack of long-term data on their effectiveness and potential side effects in this age group.