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[HEALTH] · Italy, Dominican Republic, Brazil, United States · 7 sources

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Part of situation: WHO childhood obesity management guidelines (3 clusters)

WHO issues first global guidelines for childhood obesity management

WHO guidelines childhood obesity semaglutide pediatric health lifestyle interventions

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its first global guidelines for managing obesity in children and adolescents. The organization emphasizes that the foundation of care should be structured lifestyle interventions, including healthy eating, physical activity, and behavioral support, rather than medical or surgical procedures.

For children up to age 9, the WHO advises against the use of weight-loss drugs, bariatric surgery, or weight-loss devices. For adolescents aged 10 to 19, pharmacological treatments are recommended only as a last resort after at least six months of supervised lifestyle interventions have failed to achieve desired results.

The guidelines arrive amid a global health crisis: the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents aged 5-19 has quadrupled from 2% in 1990 to 8% in 2024, affecting an estimated 170 million young people. Of these, 70 million are aged 5-9 and 100 million are adolescents.

Clinical data highlights the potential of certain medications; for instance, the STEP TEENS study showed an average 18% BMI reduction in adolescents using semaglutide, while the STEP Young study indicated that 40.4% of children aged 6-11 treated with semaglutide and lifestyle changes no longer met obesity criteria after 68 weeks. However, the WHO notes that long-term effects of such drugs on the growth and mental health of developing children remain a subject of study.

Entities

Anvisa · Eli Lilly · Luz Maria De Regil · Novo Nordisk · World Health Organization

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

Sources

OBESITÀ INFANTILE: le nuove linee guida OMS vietano farmaci e chirurgia sotto i 9 anni [www.ilcampanile.it]
¿Qué recomiendan las primeras directrices mundiales sobre obesidad en niños y adolescentes de la OMS? [www.diariodesalud.com.do]
Wegovy ganha espaço entre adolescentes após nova diretriz da OMS [www.moneyreport.com.br]
Obesità in adolescenti, nuove linee guida Oms: quando ricorrere ai farmaci [www.farmacista33.it]
“Canetas” para emagrecer em adolescentes? OMS lança novas diretrizes para obesidade • Canguru News [cangurunews.com.br]
OMS lança guia para enfrentar obesidade em crianças e adolescentes [dropsdejogos.uai.com.br]
Weight-Loss Drugs for Kids Under 10? The World Health Organization Shares Its Recommendation [www.sheknows.com]