Published on 25/08/2026 – 13:59 GMT+2
One million children in Afghanistan are suffering from life‑threatening malnutrition as a worsening crisis grips the country, the United Nations warned on Tuesday.
Across Afghanistan, 3.7 million children suffer from wasting, a sign of acute malnutrition, UNICEF said.
One million of those children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition that threatens their lives, said Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF’s Afghanistan country representative.
He warned, “If treatment does not start immediately and we cannot act quickly, those one million children could die,” during a briefing in Geneva relayed from Kabul.
Afghanistan has endured repeated periods of widespread hunger 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 US‑led forces withdrew in 2021.
He noted that nearly 40 % of children admitted to hospitals with severe wasting and related complications are infants younger than six months.
Children under two account for more than 80 % of severe acute malnutrition cases in the country.
Malnutrition is a central factor in the rising deaths of very young children, Oyewale said.
He described a worsening nutrition crisis nationwide, with over half a million children hospitalized this year for high‑risk, moderate and severe wasting.
In July 2025, about 6,000 cases were recorded; by July this year, the figure had risen above 8,000, an increase of roughly one‑third.
In parts of southern Afghanistan, some hospitals are now seeing three or four severely malnourished children for each available bed, he warned.