WHO says more than 170 million children and adolescents worldwide live with obesity
In short
The World Health Organization says more than 170 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 worldwide have been diagnosed with obesity, with prevalence in that age group rising fourfold since 1990, from 2% to about 8%. The WHO issued guidance recommending physical activity, healthy eating and behavioural interventions, and said treatment alone is not enough to curb the rise.
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The World Health Organization says more than 170 million children and adolescents worldwide suffer from obesity, according to RIA Novosti, Vedomosti and TASS. The organisation said obesity had been diagnosed in 170 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19, Vedomosti reported. Prevalence in that age group has risen fourfold since 1990, from 2% to about 8%, the WHO said, a figure carried by both Vedomosti and TASS. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Vedomosti reported that 70 million of those affected are children aged 5 to 9, and a further 100 million are adolescents aged 10 to 19. [ 2 ]
The WHO issued recommendations for treating children with obesity, according to Vedomosti. It recommends physical activity, healthy eating and behavioural interventions. For children under nine, the organisation does not recommend pharmacological treatment, bariatric surgery or weight-loss devices. The WHO stressed that treatment alone is not enough to curb the growth of obesity and called on countries to take measures making healthy eating and physical activity more accessible, including through regulation, tax policy, education, urban planning, transport and social protection. [ 2 ]
Citing WHO data, Vedomosti reported that obesity caused 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024 and that, without additional measures, the number of people with obesity worldwide could double by 2030. [ 2 ]
Vedomosti also noted that on 2 October the Russian Health Ministry said diabetes had acquired the character of a non-infectious pandemic, with the main increase in patients coming from type 2 diabetes, hundreds of thousands of new cases a year, which more often develops in people with obesity. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The figures describe a global, long-running trend in child health rather than a single-country event, and the WHO's call for regulation, tax policy, education and urban planning points to measures that governments would have to adopt. Vedomosti's report also links the topic to Russia, noting a recent Health Ministry statement on diabetes.
Key facts
- The WHO says more than 170 million children and adolescents worldwide suffer from obesity. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The figure covers children and adolescents aged 5 to 19. [ 2 ]
- Of those, 70 million are children aged 5–9 and 100 million are adolescents aged 10–19, according to Vedomosti's account of the WHO data. [ 2 ]
- Prevalence of obesity in this age group rose fourfold since 1990, from 2% to about 8%, the WHO said. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The WHO recommended physical activity, healthy eating and behavioural interventions, and advised against pharmacological treatment, bariatric surgery and weight-loss devices for children under nine. [ 2 ]
- Vedomosti reported that, according to the WHO, obesity caused 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024 and that the number of people with obesity could double by 2030 without additional measures. [ 2 ]
- On 2 October the Russian Health Ministry said diabetes had taken on the character of a non-infectious pandemic, with growth driven mainly by type 2 diabetes, which more often develops in people with obesity. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The age breakdown — 70 million children aged 5–9 and 100 million adolescents aged 10–19 — appears only in Vedomosti's report. Single-source detail not carried by the other two documents.
- The WHO's treatment recommendations and its call for regulation, tax policy, education, urban planning, transport and social protection measures appear only in Vedomosti. Single-source detail; the documents do not say when the guidance was issued.
- The figures of 3.7 million deaths from obesity in 2024 and a possible doubling of the number of people with obesity by 2030 come only from Vedomosti's account. Single-source figures attributed to the WHO but not repeated elsewhere.
- The documents give no country-level breakdown or Russia-specific obesity statistics. Not stated in any of the documents.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- RIA Novosti publishes a report on the WHO's figure for children and adolescents with obesity. [ 1 ]
- Vedomosti publishes the WHO data with the age breakdown, treatment recommendations and mortality and projection figures. [ 2 ]
- TASS reports the WHO's figure and the fourfold rise in prevalence since 1990. [ 3 ]