One million Afghan children suffer ‘life-threatening’ malnutrition: UN

Afghanistan has endured repeated hunger emergencies in recent decades as it has struggled through civil war and other crises.(AFP) — One million children in Afghanistan are suffering from life-threatening malnutrition amid a worsening crisis sweeping the country, the United Nations warned Tuesday.Across Afghanistan, 3.7 million children suffer from wasting, meaning they are acutely malnourished, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said.Among them are “1 million children who are suffering from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition” — the worst form, said UNICEF’s Afghanistan representative, Tajudeen Oyewale.“If there is no treatment, and we are not able to act fast, that 1 million number are at risk of dying,” he told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Kabul.Afghanistan has endured repeated hunger emergencies in recent decades as it has struggled through civil war and other crises. An economic collapse followed the Taliban government’s return to power after U.S.-led forces withdrew in 2021.“Malnutrition plays a central role” in the growing number of deaths among very young children, Oyewale said.Nearly 40% of children admitted to hospitals with severe wasting and medical complications were babies under 6 months old, he said.Meanwhile, children under 2 make up more than 80% of severe acute malnutrition cases in Afghanistan.He described a “worsening nutrition crisis” across the country, with more than half a million children admitted to hospitals so far this year for high-risk moderate and severe wasting.In July 2025, about 6,000 severe acute malnutrition cases were admitted. In July this year, the number topped 8,000 — about one-third higher.“In parts of southern Afghanistan, some hospitals are now seeing three or four severely malnourished children for every available bed,” he warned.‘Vicious cycle’Oyewale said an “increasingly alarming picture” was developing, with families cutting back on nutritious food and meals becoming smaller.Children’s first food beyond breast milk may be little more than bread with tea or watered-down yogurt, “and for a growing child, this is simply not enough.”He said children can become trapped in a “vicious cycle”: being poorly nourished, developing severe diarrhea or respiratory infections, and then becoming even more malnourished.The problems are compounded by Afghanistan’s other troubles, including successive years of drought, flash floods, regional instability and cross-border trade disruptions.The return of 6 million Afghans from abroad since 2023 — more than half of them children — is also exacerbating pressure on already stretched resources.While treatment for malnutrition can save lives, if survivors return home to the same conditions, “we frequently see those kinds of children relapse and come back.”Oyewale said that while needs were increasing, services for children were being slashed because of international aid cuts.He said more than 100 sites treating children for severe wasting have closed since 2025.UNICEF’s nutrition program in Afghanistan is estimated to cost $180 million this year but is only 22% funded.“We should not wait until a child is dangerously thin and lying in a hospital bed before we act,” Oyewale said.Categories / InternationalSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads