UNICEF warns 3.7 million Afghan children face heightened malnutrition risk | Report

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is calling for urgent action as peak wasting season approaches in Afghanistan, warning that child food and nutrition insecurity is placing 3.7 million children under the age of five at increased risk of undernutrition, according to a press release issued on 12 July 2026. A new UNICEF report released from Kabul highlights the need to protect children’s diets and act earlier to prevent life-threatening wasting. For the first time at this scale, the agency is measuring child malnutrition alongside the lived experience of early childhood food and nutrition insecurity across all provinces. The analysis captures early warning signs such as reduced food variety, skipped meals, children eating less than they need, or going hungry. The findings underscore an urgent window for prevention before conditions worsen.

The report, Too Little, Too Late: The Diet Crisis Facing Young Children in Afghanistan, comes as the country enters its peak wasting season. Recent Nutrition Cluster data show that wasting has worsened across 26 of the country’s 34 provinces compared with 2025. This deterioration is occurring before the July to September peak period, signalling an early and deepening crisis. Children under two are disproportionately affected, accounting for 83 per cent of severe acute malnutrition cases. They also represent 77 per cent of moderate acute malnutrition cases.

The latest Afghanistan Nutrition Cluster alert indicates that the response must extend beyond nutrition services alone. Worsening malnutrition is being driven by poor young child diets, rising food insecurity, disease outbreaks, and low immunisation coverage. Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene services, along with growing funding and supply gaps, are compounding the crisis. The new analysis shows that children in severely food-insecure households are up to six times more likely to suffer from wasting during peak malnutrition periods. Coordinated action is needed across nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, education and social protection services.

“Young children in Afghanistan are being pushed closer to malnutrition before the peak season has even begun,” said Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan.

He noted that the new evidence provides an opportunity to act before children reach the point of severe malnutrition. “When families begin reducing meals or cutting back on nutritious foods, it is not only a sign of hardship. It is a warning that a child may soon become dangerously wasted,” he said. Oyewale added that treatment saves lives, but investment in prevention must start with the diets of the youngest children and pregnant women.

UNICEF is calling for urgent investment to protect young children’s diets and prevent further malnutrition ahead of the peak wasting season. This includes scaling up the First Foods Initiative and prioritising children aged 6 to 23 months. The agency is also urging stronger preventive nutrition services and better alignment of essential services around children’s nutrition needs. With the peak wasting season approaching, the window to act is narrowing. Urgent, flexible funding is needed now to help UNICEF and partners reach families before child food and nutrition insecurity becomes life-threatening malnutrition.