Why it is in the news
On 7 October 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its first guidelines on managing obesity in children and adolescents — two documents, one for children (29 days to under 10 years) and one for adolescents (10–19 years). They recommend against weight-loss medicines and bariatric surgery for children, allow them only conditionally for adolescents after structured lifestyle programmes fail, and make diet, physical activity and behaviour change the foundation of care. “The foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery,” said Dr Luz María De Regil, Director, WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety.
The exam angle
Issue: Childhood obesity is rising fastest in countries like India that still battle undernutrition, while new weight-loss drugs tempt a medical shortcut for a problem rooted in food systems and lifestyles.