Global childhood malnutrition

Poor nutrition accounts for 45% of child mortality globally,1 impairs children’s physical and cognitive development, and contributes to the loss of 3-16% of gross domestic product (GDP) in low and middle income countries.2 Unicef’s 2024 report on child food poverty revealed that one in four children under 5 years old globally is fed a nutritionally deficient diet comprising two or fewer food groups each day: 181 million children are typically fed mostly starchy staples, dairy, or breastmilk and rarely consume fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts, seeds, eggs, meat, or fish.3 In fragile contexts the situation is dire: the proportion of children consuming nutritionally deficient diets is 43% in South Sudan, 63% in Somalia, and 90% in Gaza. We are failing to nourish young bodies and minds.

Action to improve children’s diets forms part of global commitments to ensure food security, notably through sustainable development goal (SDG) 2, to “end hunger and achieve food security and improved nutrition” by 2030. However, Unicef’s report reframes dietary deficiencies within a new policy imperative of “child food poverty” and introduces a new metric for tracking …