Malnutrition

Two in three children between the ages of 6 months and two years are not getting the nutrients and food they need for healthy growth and development. Sadly, there has been no progress in improving children’s diets in the last decade. The poor quality of young children’s diets is the major driver of all forms of malnutrition – stunting, wasting,…, What are food systems?, Food systems are the public policy decisions; the national and global systems and supply chains; and the individuals and groups – public and private – that influence what we eat. They are important for two key reasons: What we eat – our diets – is one of the biggest drivers of health and well-being. This is especially the case for children. Good…, Why do food systems need reform?, A staggering two in three children between the ages of 6 months and two years  are not getting the diverse diets they need to grow up well, putting them at risk of malnutrition. Food systems are one of the major drivers of this. Too often driven by profit over purpose, decisions about what food is produced and how that food is processed, packaged…, Making change happen, Action on food systems can transform this situation – progress is possible. For example, over the past two decades, the number of undernourished children has fallen by one-third. We know we can continue this progress through collective action to: Improve the quality of what children eat. This includes mandatory quality standards for children’s…, The Food Systems Summit 2021, This is a critical moment to listen to the voices of children and young people. Not only does their future depend on a radical overhaul of our food systems, but they also have some of the best and brightest ideas about how these systems can better serve people and our planet. The UN Food Systems Summit , held during the UN General Assembly in New…

National governments have the primary responsibility of upholding children’s and women’s rights to nutrition. To do this effectively, they need strong, resilient systems that help prevent all forms of malnutrition and deliver timely treatment and care when prevention falls short. Multiple systems – including food, health and social protection –…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF Food Systems for Children: UNICEF in Action for Food Systems Transformation Food Systems for Children: UNICEF in Action for Food Systems Transformation UNICEF Nutrition, for every child Nutrition, for Every Child: UNICEF Nutrition Strategy, 2020–2030 UNICEF The State of the…, UNICEF’s response, UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2019 State of the World’s Children 2019 report highlighted the failure of food systems to deliver nutritious, safe and affordable diets for children, and issued a call to action to realize every child’s right to adequate nutrition over the next decade. Our approach to transforming food systems is based on the…, Ten key actions to improve young children's diets, Food system 1. Increase the availability and affordability of nutritious foods – including fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, meat and fortified foods – by incentivizing their production, distribution and retailing.  2. Implement national standards and legislation to protect young children from unhealthy processed and ultra-processed foods and…

Countries with poor nutrition governance have weak or limited policies protecting maternal and child nutrition – and few accountability mechanisms. Decision-making may be influenced by political or corporate interests rather than the nutrition needs and rights of children and women. In these settings, the most vulnerable are often least able to…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF Nutrition, for every child Nutrition, for Every Child: UNICEF Nutrition Strategy, 2020–2030 UNICEF The State of the World’s Children 2019 The State of the World’s Children, 2019: Children, food and nutrition UNICEF UNICEF Global Annual Results Report 2020: Goal Area 1 Nutrition, for Every Child: Global Annual Results Report…, UNICEF’s response, A man in Pakistan holds a child, in 2006. A man in Pakistan holds a child in 2006. UNICEF helps strengthen the capacities of governments for good nutrition governance. To do this, we convene strategic partnerships, UNICEF Data: Monitoring the situation of children and women generate data , share knowledge, advocate for children’s right to…

Emergencies around the world have become increasingly complex and protracted. Driven by conflict, climate change, Child nutrition and COVID-19 epidemics , and disasters, humanitarian crises are leaving millions of children and women malnourished and jeopardizing their survival, growth and development. Humanitarian crises are often characterized by…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF Nutrition Data Global Nutrition Cluster Global Nutrition Cluster Global Nutrition Cluster Website Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance Website UNICEF Core Commitments for Children Core Commitments to…, UNICEF’s response, Sham, 3 months old, receives her vaccinations in one of the UNICEF-supported health clinics in Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan, in 2019. Three-month-old Sham receives her vaccinations in one of the UNICEF-supported health clinics in Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan, in 2019. UNICEF’s actions to prevent and treat malnutrition during emergencies are guided by…

Wasting is the most immediate, visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition. It results from the failure to prevent malnutrition among the most vulnerable children. Children with wasting are too thin and their immune systems are weak, leaving them vulnerable to developmental delays, disease and death. Some children affected by wasting also…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF Famine Prevention and Mitigation, UNICEF Position Paper UNICEF No Time To Waste. Improving diets, services and practices for the prevention, early detection and treatment of wasting in early childhood UNICEF Child Nutrition UNICEF Nutrition Data WHO, WFP, SCN, UNICEF WHO, WFP, SCN and UNICEF Joint Statement on Community-…, UNICEF’s response, When efforts to prevent malnutrition fall short, early detection and treatment of children with wasting and other life-threatening forms of malnutrition are critical to save their lives and put them on the path to healthy growth and development. In most cases, children with wasting can be treated with Nutrition ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF…

Women have distinct nutritional requirements throughout their life – especially before and during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, when nutritional vulnerability is greatest. Ensuring women have nutritious diets and adequate services and care is fundamental for the survival and well-being of mothers and their children. Before pregnancy, women…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF Undernourished and Overlooked Nutrition Crisis Girls and Women Undernourished and Overlooked: A global nutrition crisis in adolescent girls and women UNICEF Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation: An approach to improving women’s nutrition during pregnancy and preventing low birthweight  UNICEF UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF…, UNICEF’s response, A mother, 19 years old, breastfeeds her infant in India, in 2010. A mother, 19 years old, breastfeeds her infant in India, in 2010. Improving women’s diets, access to nutrition services, and nutrition and care practices – before and during pregnancy and while breastfeeding – is critical to preventing malnutrition in all its forms. This is…

After early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence – the period from age 5 to 19 – is a second window of opportunity for growth, psychosocial development, and establishing lifelong dietary and lifestyle habits. Good nutrition during this period fuels growing brains and bodies, and improves school enrolment, educational achievement and…, Resources,     Publisher Title UNICEF A Systems Approach to Improving Children’s Diets A Systems Approach to Improving Children’s Diets UNICEF Shifting the Narrative on Childhood Overweight & Obesity: A new playbook for effective advocacy Shifting the Narrative on Childhood Overweight & Obesity: A new playbook for effective advocacy UNICEF Food…, UNICEF’s response, Kufekisa (18 yrs), Dorcas (17 yrs), Haggar (19 yrs) and Joshua (17 yrs) are all learners at the Nampundwe Secondary School who received education bursaries as part of the UNICEF supported SEEVCA sites in the Shibuyunji District Lusaka. Students at the Nampundwe Secondary School in Zambia, 2020. The prevention of malnutrition in school-age children…

Children need the right foods at the right time to grow and develop to their full potential. The most critical time for good nutrition is during the 1,000-day period from pregnancy until a child’s second birthday. In the first two years of life, breastfeeding saves lives, shields children from disease, boosts brain development and guarantees…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF Community IYCF Counselling Package Community Infant and Young Child Feeding Counselling Package UNICEF UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF Improving Young Children’s Diets During the Complementary Feeding Period – UNICEF Programming Guidance, 2020 Improving Young Children’s Diets during the Complementary…, UNICEF’s response, Alimatou Goïta, 23 months, who suffers from stunting, during a follow-up with her mother. In Mali, 23-month-old Alimatou Goïta, who suffers from stunting, receives nutrition support at a health centre with her mother in 2019. Improving the quality of children’s foods and feeding practices in the earliest years of life is the cornerstone of…

Good nutrition is the bedrock of child survival, growth, and development. Well-nourished children are better able to learn, play and participate in their communities. They are also more resilient in the face of illness and crisis. Since 2000, the world has reduced the proportion of children under 5 suffering from stunting by one third and the…, Resources, Publisher Title UNICEF UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF Nutrition Data UNICEF Nutrition, for Every Child: UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020–2030 Nutrition, for Every Child: UNICEF Nutrition Strategy, 2020–2030 UNICEF The State of the World’s Children 2023: Children, food and nutrition UNICEF Nutrition, for Every Child: Global Annual Results Report, 2022…, UNICEF’s response, Mothers wait outside Washe Faka Health Post with their children in Mareko Woreda (district) in SNNP Region, one of the drought-affected regions in Ethiopia where UNICEF provides health and nutrition support including ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), therapeutic milks, routine medications and support for community-based management of acute…, Explore areas of our work, child eating Early childhood nutrition, Children need the right foods at the right time to grow and develop to their full potential. The most critical time for good nutrition is during the 1,000-day period from pregnancy until a child’s second birthday. Learn more, Rashid and Majid are friends and eat mixed vegetable soup at Herat Park, a western province of Afghanistan. Nutrition in middle childhood and adolescence, After early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence – the period from age 5 to 19 – is a second window of opportunity for growth, psychosocial development, and establishing lifelong dietary and lifestyle habits. Learn more, Razoeliarinala Tamby, 26, buys food at a market in Ambanitsena, Madagascar, 2019. Maternal nutrition, During pregnancy and breastfeeding, women become particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. Energy and nutrient needs increase at this time, and meeting them is critical to protecting women’s health and that of their child – in the womb and throughout early childhood. Learn more, Fatima, a 10-month-old baby, is screened by doctors and diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition, in the hospital of the Kishim district in the North of Afghanistan. Nutrition and care for children with wasting, Wasting is the most immediate, visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition. It results from the failure to prevent malnutrition among the most vulnerable children. Learn more, Mundene, 21, is screened for malnutrition as she cradles her two-month-old baby Melesech at the Gedebe Health Post in Halaba Special Woreda, Ethiopia, in 2016. Maternal and child nutrition in humanitarian action, Driven by conflict, climate change, epidemics, and disasters, humanitarian crises are leaving millions of children and women malnourished and jeopardizing their survival, growth and development. Learn more, A child holds up plastic bananas during a class at a community pre-school in Sokang Commune, Cambodia, in 2015. Partnerships and governance for nutrition, Countries with poor nutrition governance have weak or limited policies protecting maternal and child nutrition – and few accountability mechanisms. Decision-making may be influenced by political or corporate interests rather than the nutrition needs and rights of children and women. In these settings, the most vulnerable are often least able to…, Happy children in the village of Kpatrakaha, in the region of Korhogo, in the North of Côte d’Ivoire, 2020. Making systems work for nutrition, National governments have the primary responsibility of upholding children’s and women’s rights to nutrition. To do this effectively, they need strong, resilient systems that help prevent all forms of malnutrition and deliver timely treatment and care when prevention falls short. Multiple systems – including food, health, water and sanitation,…, Key planned results for 2025, Nutrition partnerships, UNICEF collaborates with many nutrition partners at global, regional and country levels to scale up nutrition policies, strategies and programmes that accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Sustainable Development Goals , including Goal 2: to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition. As part of its convening role,…

In a neglected emergency, children need aid, protection – and a future, Two in three children in the Central African Republic (CAR) are in urgent need of aid amid an escalating crisis that has left thousands of children trapped within armed groups, and thousands more subjected to sexual violence. The children of CAR need security. The places they go for protection and support – including schools, hospitals and places…, Crisis at a glance, What’s happening in the Central African Republic?, In December 2013, Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), descended into violence. The situation fleetingly made international headlines, leading to warnings of a failed state and possible genocide. Now the few early signs of recovery and rebuilding in CAR have given way to a dramatic resurgence in fighting., Who is affected by the fighting?, More often than not, the armed groups target civilians rather than each other. They attack health and education facilities and personnel, mosques and churches, as well as sites where displaced people have taken shelter., How many children are affected?, Today, 1.5 million Central African children require humanitarian assistance. Meanwhile, there are almost 643,000 internally displaced Central Africans.  , A deepening health crisis, In 2018, severe acute malnutrition rates among young children in the Central African Republic have risen above the emergency threshold across more than half the country. And the situation is set to worsen. The number of children who are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition is projected to reach more than 43,000 in 2019., Learning under fire, At the national level in the Central African Republic, seven out of 10 children and adolescents drop out of school. Fewer than three in five finish primary school, and just 6 per cent complete the equivalent of high school. Children who are not in school are at high risk of exploitation, recruitment into armed groups or involvement in criminal…, Children under attack, The number of people displaced by the violence is near levels seen at the peak of the violence in 2014. Many families lack reliable access to food and depend on host communities. Around three in five are living with host families, most of whom are extremely poor. Many children were separated from their parents during the violence, ending up alone…, Voices from the Central African Republic, UNICEF UNICEF Display caption Show Original Caption Display caption Show Original Caption © UNICEF/UN0248767/Le Du UNICEF/UN0239520/Gilbertson VII Photo, The crisis in numbers, How is UNICEF helping?, UNICEF has helped set up hundreds of temporary learning spaces and trained thousands of community teachers in CAR. It has also established catch-up programmes for children who have missed out on classes since 2014. Between January and September 2018, a Rapid Response Mechanism led by UNICEF – and intended to provide crucial non-food items and…, Find out more

Conflict in the Kasai region at a glance, What is the Kasai crisis?, Violence initially flared in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 2016, sparked by tensions between customary chiefs in Kasai-Central Province and the government. The violence spread rapidly in early 2017. Existing intercommunity tensions became part of a wider conflict involving militias, armed groups and security…, How many people have been affected?, When violence broke out in 2016, hundreds of thousands of people ran for their lives. Women and children displaced by violence have escaped to isolated locations to find safety – losing access to essential goods and services such as health care, safe water and sanitation, and education. The militias have used children to fight and kill, or to act…, How is UNICEF helping?, UNICEF is on the ground helping to deliver life-saving supplies and services. Since January 2017, UNICEF and partners have treated 71,500 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition; and, since August 2017, vaccinated 2 million children for measles; provided access to water, sanitation and hygiene services for more than 326,400 children; and…, Call to action: For the children of Kasai, UNICEF and its partners have achieved some critical results for children in the Kasai region. However, if humanitarian action is not stepped up in 2018: 400,000 children will be at risk of dying because of severe acute malnutrition. Thousands of children formerly associated with the militias will lack the support they need to reintegrate into…, Fast facts, Children and militias, Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of the crisis in Kasai is the use of children by militias. At least 60 per cent of the region’s militia forces are composed of children, according to the interagency Global Education Cluster and Global Protection Cluster. The militias use children to fight and kill, or to act as human shields. All of them have to…, Nutrition crisis , While the security situation has stabilized in parts of the Kasai region and displaced populations have begun to return to their communities, humanitarian conditions remain critical. More than 770,000 young children are malnourished, including 400,000 children – a staggering 10 per cent of the under-5 population – who urgently need treatment to…, Health crisis, Beyond the threat of malnutrition, the children of the Kasai region face a continuing health crisis. Many young children missed out on scheduled vaccinations because violence and displacement destroyed health centres and disrupted immunization campaigns – making them even more susceptible to deadly childhood diseases. Even for people who were not…, Education disrupted, The disruption of education by the conflict is robbing the children in the Kasai region of a viable future. Almost half a million children in the region were unable to complete the school year in 2017 and school attendance is likely to be disrupted by violence in 2018 as well. Since the beginning of the conflict, 416 primary and secondary schools…, Displaced by violence, The violence in the Kasai has generated massive displacement. The impact this experience will have on lives and futures is difficult to imagine. People hiding in the bush are the most vulnerable and difficult to reach with assistance. They have no real shelter and lack drinking water, sanitation, food and health care. Others live with their…, Voices from the Kasai, A youth at a UNICEF-supported reintegration centre for children associated with armed groups, in Kananga, Kasai region, Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC. Children on the frontline Thousands of children in Kasai have been associated with militias and experienced atrocities > More A mother holds her sleeping baby at a health centre in Kasai…, UNICEF's response, UNICEF is on the ground working with partners to reach children with lifesaving assistance: Preventing and treating severe acute malnutrition among the region’s children by distributing therapeutic food and training health workers, mothers and community members in infant and young child feeding practices. Improving children’s access to health care…, Beyond Kasai: The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Learn more, UNICEF Child Alert | Kasai: A children’s crisis Humanitarian Situation Reports: Democratic Republic of the Congo UNICEF 2018 appeal: Democratic Republic of the Congo