thousands of children malnutrition in Gaza

Tel Aviv (dpa) — More than 54,600 children are suffering acute malnutrition in Gaza, according to estimates from a United Nations’ study published on Wednesday.

From January 2024 to mid-August 2025, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) health staff screened nearly 220,000 children for malnutrition.

The study, published in The Lancet journal, estimates more than 54,600 children in Gaza to be acutely malnourished, including over 12,800 severely so.

Director of UNRWA’s Health Department and senior author of the study Akihiro Seita said since October 7, 2023, Gaza’s infrastructure had been destroyed, the population repeatedly displaced and humanitarian aid severely restricted.

“Tens of thousands of young children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from preventable malnutrition, disease, and increased risk of death, as a consequence of the ongoing war,” Seita said.

“Without a lasting ceasefire and peace, this human suffering will continue.”

During the 20-month surveillance period, deliveries of food, water, fuel and medicines into the Gaza Strip were below pre-war levels due to restrictions placed on the entry of aid by Israeli authorities, UNRWA said.

When supplies were relatively available, the percentage of acutely malnourished children was around 6%. The rate jumped to 14% by January 2025 following four months of aid restrictions. A six-week ceasefire saw rates drop back to 6% by March 2025, the study found.

However, acute malnutrition had surged again recently, reaching nearly 16% by mid-August.

Wasting, or acute malnutrition, is a life-threatening condition and is defined as a child being too thin for their height, indicating rapid weight loss and severe lack of energy, protein and other nutrients, UNRWA said.