The WHO doesn’t recommend medical treatment, surgery or weight-loss devices for children up to the age of nine, the organization notes. <\/p>\n
For older youth from the age of 10 to 19, medical treatments may be considered only when a supervised lifestyle program hasn’t achieved results, the guidance states, while bariatric surgery should only be an option under strict conditions for youth living with severe obesity.<\/p>\n
“The foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery, but access to comprehensive support that enables healthy eating, physical activity and sustainable behaviour change,” said Dr. Luz Mar\u00eda De Regil, the WHO’s director of the department of nutrition and food safety.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Cheaper GLP-1 drugs arrive in Canada:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791369612_298_default.jpg\")
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Cheaper GLP-1s arrive in Canada: Are they safe?<\/p>\n
A generic version of semaglutide, more commonly known by the brand name Ozempic, is now available in Canada as patent protections expire. For The National, CBC\u2019s Christine Birak breaks down the key details about the drug\u2019s safety, production and cost. [CORRECTION (June 4, 2026): The world map at 1:38 in this story shows a demarcation between Morocco and Western Sahara. In fact, the boundaries between the two are disputed.]<\/p>\n
London, Ont.-based pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Marina Ybarra welcomed the organization’s cautious acknowledgement of medications as one avenue to tackle obesity. <\/p>\n
Here in Canada, two GLP-1s are approved for weight management for youth aged 12 and up, but young patients typically have to pay for the drugs through their parents’ insurance or out of pocket, said Ybarra, who works with Western University and leads the London Health Sciences Centre Children’s Hospital pediatric weight management clinic.<\/p>\n
“The news about WHO encouraging GLP-1 as a possible treatment for children living with obesity \u2014 I think it’s very good news,” she said. <\/p>\n
“Because maybe that will help us to get funding through the public system in Canada for children living with obesity. That’s my biggest hope.”<\/p>\n
170 million youth living with obesity<\/p>\n
The WHO’s new guidance is meant to tackle skyrocketing rates of obesity among global youth.<\/p>\n
Roughly 170 million children and teens around the world between the ages of five to 19 were living with obesity in 2024, the WHO noted. Obesity prevalence in this age group has also quadrupled since 1990, rising from two to eight per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The global recommendations echo recent Canadian guidance<\/a> to manage obesity in children. That long-awaited 2025 update also called for behavioural and psychological support and, in some cases, additional medical or surgical interventions.<\/p>\n But Canadian physicians recommend only using GLP-1s to manage obesity in children after the age of 12, two years above the WHO’s cutoff due, and don’t stipulate that medical intervention should only be tried after lifestyle changes.<\/p>\n “There is no evidence to support a stepwise approach whereby pharmacologic and surgical interventions should be offered only if behavioural and psychological interventions prove ineffective,” reads the guidance published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. <\/p>\n “Using shared decision-making with families, health care providers should consider all intervention options.” <\/p>\n The WHO, in contrast, focused on the “practicality and universality” of diet, physical activity and behavioural changes as the pillars of obesity management, and it stressed the need for “structured long-term follow-up” in cases where patients use medication alongside other lifestyle interventions. <\/p>\n WATCH | Weight comes back quickly after stopping GLP-1s, study shows: Weight comes back quickly after quitting GLP-1 drugs: study<\/p>\n People who abandon popular GLP-1 weight loss medications like Ozempic put weight back on quickly, researchers say. A new report found people who quit programs regained just under one pound per month, and were projected to return to their original weight within nearly two years.Caution around GLP-1 use among children<\/p>\n GLP-1s and other similar medications \u2014 known by household brand names like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Wegovy and Zepbound \u2014 have exploded in popularity among adults to treat obesity and diabetes, and for general weight loss, even without a clear medical need<\/a>.<\/p>\n The drugs work by mimicking the body’s glucagon-like peptide-1 hormone, which helps manage appetite, slow digestion and regulate blood sugar.<\/p>\n Ybarra stressed the medications are now an effective tool for many young patients with obesity, helping to both reduce weight and improve quality of life. <\/p>\n While some children and teens face similar side effects to older patients, including nausea and other gastrointestinal issues, “we didn’t see many of the severe complications that were seen in the adult population,” Ybarra noted.<\/p>\n Younger and younger patients are also trying this growing class of drugs.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791369614_206_default.jpg\")
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