Gaza survey finds acute malnutrition in around 1% of children, but stunting persists

Famine was declared in Gaza in August 2025 after two years of war that destroyed 87 per cent of cropland and sharply limited food imports. That month, 17,000 children were admitted for acute malnutrition treatment. An October 2025 cease‑fire allowed larger humanitarian convoys, easing the food shortage. Between 31 May and 15 June 2026, the share of children showing signs of acute malnutrition fell to about one per cent, a clear short‑term improvement despite the earlier crisis. By March 2026, monthly admissions for acute malnutrition treatment had dropped to 3,000, illustrating how expanded aid helped avert mass starvation after the cease‑fire.

The UNICEF survey released on 24 August 2026 found that 12.2 per cent of children in the population represented by the survey – approximately one in eight – were chronically malnourished, a condition known as stunting that can impair brain development, learning and long‑term health. Nearly one in ten women of reproductive age were also malnourished, raising the risk of low‑birth‑weight infants. While breastfeeding rates remain high, only 20 to 30 per cent of toddlers consume a sufficiently diverse diet, indicating a shift from calorie scarcity to a deficit in dietary quality. The developmental harm associated with stunting may last throughout a child’s life.

Vaccination coverage in Gaza still falls short of the herd‑immunity threshold, and children with diarrhoea often cannot reach treatment facilities. The UNICEF field work, which measured nearly 1,335 children and interviewed over 2,000 households, represented people living in accessible areas of Gaza. Its findings highlight how fragile the gains remain without continuous aid. UN officials stress the need for unimpeded humanitarian access to fuel, nutrition, health, water and sanitation supplies, as well as the reopening of commercial markets. Their recommendations call for maintaining emergency malnutrition treatment, shifting to preventive nutrition programmes, and eventually rebuilding primary health‑care and food systems to secure long‑term resilience.