3.7 million Afghan children face acute malnutrition crisis
Around 3.7 million children in Afghanistan are suffering from wasting, including about 1 million facing life-threatening severe acute malnutrition, UNICEF said Tuesday.
The crisis is placing growing pressure on hospitals, with the number of children admitted with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications rising by one-third over the past year.
UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan Tajudeen Oyewale said nearly 40% of children hospitalized with severe wasting and medical complications are babies under 6 months old.
Children under 2 account for 83% of severe acute malnutrition cases, he said.
More than half a million children have been admitted since the beginning of the year for high-risk moderate wasting and severe wasting, according to UNICEF.
The number of severe acute malnutrition cases requiring hospital care rose from about 6,000 in July 2025 to 8,000 by July 2026.
“In parts of southern Afghanistan, some hospitals are now seeing three or four severely malnourished children for every available bed,” Oyewale said.
Food poverty worsens risks
UNICEF said half of Afghanistan’s children are living in severe child food poverty, meaning they consume food from two or fewer food groups each day.
Children living in severely food-insecure households can be up to six times more likely to suffer from wasting during peak periods of malnutrition, the agency said.
Successive years of drought, destructive heavy rainfall and flash floods are worsening the situation, while regional instability is disrupting cross-border trade and livelihoods, Oyewale said.
The return of around 6 million people to Afghanistan since 2023, more than half of them children, has also increased pressure on jobs, household resources and health and nutrition services.
Funding cuts threaten vital services
More than 100 sites treating children with severe wasting have closed this year compared with 2025 because of resource constraints, UNICEF said.
Hundreds of other centers providing nutrition support to children and malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women have also lost funding.
The Nutrition Sector response in Afghanistan faces a 57% funding gap. UNICEF said its nutrition program, which requires about $180 million this year, is only 22% funded.
“At precisely the moment when the needs are increasing, the services available to children are being reduced due to funding cuts,” Oyewale said.
Source:AA
