Child Malnutrition

Good nutrition is the bedrock of child survival and development. Well-nourished children are better able to grow, learn, play and participate in their communities. They are also more resilient in the face of crisis. 

But according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), today, many children are not getting the nutrition they need to survive and thrive. This is especially true for the poorest and most vulnerable children. 

Now, at least one in three children under 5 is affected by malnutrition in its most visible forms: stunting, wasting and overweight. 

Stunting

Children affected by stunting – some 144 million under the age of 5 – are too short for their age, and their brains may never develop to their full cognitive potential, hindering their ability to learn as children, earn as adults and contribute fully to their societies. 

Wasting

Wasting affects 47 million children globally. Children with wasting are desperately thin, have weakened immune systems and face an increased risk of death: they require urgent treatment and care to survive. 

Overweight

Overweight affects nearly 38 million children under 5 worldwide. As global food systems shift and the consumption of processed foods high in fat, sugar and salt increases, childhood overweight is on the rise in every region of the world, particularly in middle-income countries. 

Less visible forms of malnutrition, such as hidden hunger, can occur when children become deficient in essential vitamins and other micronutrients. These micronutrient deficiencies affect more than 340 million children under 5 globally, delaying their growth, weakening their immune systems and impairing their brain development. 

From pregnancy, through childhood and in adolescence, poor diets are a leading cause of malnutrition in all its forms. Children’s diets are shaped by multiple forces – globalization, urbanization, inequities, environmental crises, epidemics and humanitarian emergencies – that undermine families’ access to nutritious, safe and affordable foods. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the pre-existing crisis of child malnutrition, threatening families’ livelihoods, disrupting the availability and affordability of nutritious and safe diets, and straining the delivery of essential nutrition services – with dire consequences for the most vulnerable children.