Gaza: 50,000+ Children Face Severe Malnutrition
By Staff, Agencies
A study conducted by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees [UNRWA] shows that 54,600 children in Gaza are either acutely or severely malnourished, The Lancet reported on Wednesday.
Acute malnutrition [or wasting] is a life-threatening condition and is defined as a child being too thin for their height, indicating rapid weight loss and a severe lack of energy, protein and other nutrients.
It can also be assessed by measuring the circumference of a child’s upper arm with a calibrated tape, as was done in the UNRWA study.
Children suffering from wasting require regular treatment with therapeutic food over several weeks, or in extreme cases and when possible, hospitalization. In Gaza, few therapeutic options are available to impacted children.
UNRWA nutrition epidemiologist Dr. Masako Horino, who was the lead scientist for the study, said: “Evidence prior to Oct 2023 indicated that children in Palestine refugee families in the Gaza Strip were food insecure and had poor dietary diversity.
“Yet, they were only marginally underweight. This paradox was likely explained by these families’ regular access to food aid. Following two years of war and severe restrictions in humanitarian aid, tens of thousands of pre-school aged children in the Gaza Strip are now suffering from preventable acute malnutrition and face an increased risk of mortality.”
In addition, experts say that children’s future health outcomes and subsequent future generations will also be adversely impacted.
“There should also be serious concern for the well documented long-term effects, such as intergenerational consequences of starvation and food restriction in children, including inordinately high risks of non-communicable diseases and reduced life expectancy,” Zulfiqar Bhutta, of Aga Khan University; Jessica Fanzo, of Columbia University; and Paul Wise, of Stanford University School of Medicine, said in a combined statement.
Neither of the three experts quoted is linked to the study.
From Jan 2024 to Aug 2025, UNRWA screened over 219,000 children in Gaza, revealing a sharp rise in acute malnutrition due to blockades and aid restrictions. A brief ceasefire in early 2025 allowed more aid in, leading to a temporary drop in wasting by March.
The UN Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC] confirmed famine in the governorate of Gaza City on 15 August, with the rest of the Gaza Strip facing critical conditions or the prospect of famine.
UNRWA's director of health and a senior author of the paper, Dr. Akihiro Seita, said things would continue to deteriorate if “Israel’s” war did not stop.
“Given the long failure to stop the war and prevent encroaching famine despite a global capacity to do so, unless there is a lasting cessation of the conflict coupled with unimpeded, competent, international humanitarian nutritional, medical, economic and social services, a further deterioration in early childhood nutrition with increased mortality are inevitable in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
