Over 4 Million Afghan Children May Need Malnutrition Treatment in 2027, UN Warns

UNICEF and Action Against Hunger, chair and co-chair of the Afghanistan Nutrition Cluster, issued the warning following the release of the latest Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Acute Malnutrition.

More than four million children across Afghanistan are expected to need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2027, a toll that would be the highest recorded in five years. For families already struggling to find nutritious food and safe water, the warning raises a frightening prospect: more children falling ill just as the services they depend on face funding shortages.

UNICEF and Action Against Hunger, chair and co-chair of the Afghanistan Nutrition Cluster, issued the warning following the release of the latest Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Acute Malnutrition. Its findings point to a crisis spreading across more provinces, with seasonal increases in malnutrition and an anticipated funding cliff threatening both prevention services and life-saving treatment.

More provinces face critical levels of malnutrition

The number of provinces facing critical levels of acute malnutrition has risen from seven in 2025 to ten in 2026 and is projected to reach fourteen in 2027. That would put more than one-third of Afghanistan's provinces in the critical category, stretching a response already under pressure.

The most severe form of acute malnutrition is increasing fastest. An estimated 1.09 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2027, a 16 per cent increase from 2026. Nearly three million more are expected to experience moderate acute malnutrition.

These children face greater risks of illness and developmental delays, and those with the most severe malnutrition can die without treatment. Nearly 1.3 million pregnant or breastfeeding women are also expected to suffer from malnutrition during the same period, adding to the needs of families with limited access to care.

Food, water and treatment are getting harder to reach

For many households, the difficulty begins with finding enough nutritious food and safe water to keep children healthy. Only one in three children aged six to twenty-four months receives the right combination of nutritious foods to support healthy growth and development.

Nearly half of Afghanistan's households struggle to access adequate and safe water. Recurrent outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, measles and other preventable illnesses add to the risks children face, making reliable nutrition, health and water services essential.

Cross-border disruptions have affected the availability of essential nutrition supplies, putting further pressure on overstretched services and delaying children's access to life-saving nutrition commodities.

"We know what works, and we know that early action saves lives," said UNICEF Afghanistan Representative Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale.

Oyewale called for sustained, predictable investment to keep nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene services within reach. He said the resilience he had seen among families needed to be matched by early detection, available nutrition supplies and treatment.

Preventing severe malnutrition cannot wait

Some of the highest levels of acute malnutrition continue to be recorded in southern Afghanistan, where growing needs are outpacing available services and leaving children and pregnant and breastfeeding women increasingly vulnerable.

Action Against Hunger's Afghanistan Country Director, Cobi Rietveld, described the pressure on nutrition services during a recent visit to Helmand. She stressed that treating severe malnutrition remains essential, but intervention should begin before a child's condition becomes life-threatening.

"Real success is measured by how many children we can prevent from becoming severely malnourished in the first place," Rietveld said.

The Nutrition Cluster warns that acute malnutrition is likely to worsen further without urgent and sustained funding. The anticipated shortfall could reduce access to preventive nutrition services and interrupt treatment for children who need it most.

Immediate investment is needed to maintain life-saving food, nutrition and health services, together with safe water, sanitation and livelihood support. Families need help meeting today's needs and addressing the conditions that keep putting their children at risk.

Funding that arrives in time can protect essential services, prevent further deterioration and reduce the human and financial cost of responding after more children become seriously ill.