1 in 4 young children deprived of nutritious food, UNICEF says

One in 4 children under 5 years of age are severely deprived of nutritious diets, which can have lifelong consequences such as stunting, according to UNICEF. That’s 181 million children worldwide. “This is an alarming reality,” said Linda Shaker Berbari, a nutrition specialist with UNICEF. “It means these children are not consuming a healthy diet that would allow them to grow to their potential and develop.” UNICEF defines child food poverty as consuming at most two food groups daily — typically milk along with a starchy food such as rice, wheat, or maize. This deprivation of essential nutrients is tied to malnutrition and underdevelopment. A child in severe food poverty is up to 50% more likely to experience wasting, a life-threatening form of malnutrition, UNICEF says in a new report on the causes and impact of nutrition in early childhood, released Thursday. Among the contributors to this deprivation are growing inequities, conflict, climate crises, rising food prices, harmful food marketing strategies, and poor child feeding practices. The report found three main reasons why children can’t access healthy diets: household income, lack of information about healthy food choices, and the abundance of cheap, unhealthy, ultra-processed foods. The report encouraged governments, the financial sector, food and beverage companies, and the media to work together to solve the problem. Of the 181 million children living in severe food poverty, 65% reside in just 20 countries. Around 64 million affected children are in South Asia, and 59 million in sub-Saharan Africa. The report also highlighted how conflict can wreak havoc on children’s nutrition. In Somalia, where a civil war has lasted more than 20 years, 63% of children are severely undernourished, the highest rate of any country. In Somalia’s most vulnerable communities, more than 80% of caregivers reported that their child had been unable to eat for an entire day. In the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s ongoing offensive against Hamas has displaced the majority of Palestinians, data collected between December 2023 and April 2024 found that 9 out of 10 children are experiencing severe food poverty. The report found that months of restrictions on humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and collapsed food and health systems have resulted in catastrophic conditions for children. “This is evidence of the horrific impact the conflict and restrictions are having on families’ ability to meet children’s food needs — and the speed at which it places children at risk of life-threatening malnutrition,” Berbari said. Child food poverty is measured using the UNICEF and World Health Organization dietary diversity score, which measures how many out of eight food groups a child eats each day. Children who are fed three to four food groups daily are living in moderate food poverty, while severe child food poverty covers children who are fed zero to two groups a day. Among children in the severe category, 4 in 5 are fed only breastmilk and/or dairy products and/or a starchy staple, such as rice, maize, or wheat, according to the report. Fewer than 10% are fed fruits and vegetables, and fewer than 5% are fed eggs or meat, poultry, and fish. Meanwhile, there has been an increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods worldwide. “On the one hand we have a child who is not consuming nutritious food, and consuming just two out of eight defined food groups. On the other hand, they are consuming unhealthy food and beverages,” said Berbari, who is one of the report’s authors. “There is some kind of a displacement happening, where unhealthy is replacing healthy.” In those early years, when children’s stomachs are very small, making sure they are filled with nutrient-dense food is crucial, Berbari said. That’s partly because food poverty is closely linked to malnutrition. Nepal, for example, managed to cut in half the percentage of children living in severe food poverty over the past decade, partly due to a multisector nutrition plan across agriculture, the health system, and social protections — which also led to a reduction in stunting. “If we want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that have to do with malnutrition, this is a way to achieve that,” Berbari said of the report. “Governments need to commit resources and commit to measuring it and tracking it.” The report also highlighted Burkina Faso as a model: The country halved the percentage of children living in severe food poverty over the past decade from 67% to 32%, and reduced child stunting from 35% to 23%. The country’s success is due to a variety of factors: For example, the country made health care free for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 5 years old, increased the supply of nutritious food like poultry and vegetables, and created a network of mother support groups to provide information on child nutrition. “Social protection, nutrition, and health. Having these three sectors work together is really important. Joint budgeting is also really important, and really making this a priority at the government level,” Berbari said. The report urges governments to ensure the food system is supported from farm to table to produce nutritious, diverse, healthy foods, and to make those foods the most accessible, affordable, and desirable option for consumers. Also important are nutrition services and counseling services, as well as social services like health care and monetary assistance . Finally, the report recommends limiting access and promotion of ultra-processed foods, many of which are aggressively marketed to children and parents. “The food and beverage industry should not meddle with policy,” Berbari said. “The main recommendation is that all actors — whoever can have a stake in this — come together and commit to ending child food poverty. Make it a priority.”