NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The warning comes from UN children’s agency UNICEF which said levels of severe wasting in children under five remain gravely high in several countries due to conflict, economic shocks and climate crises.

Severe wasting – also known as severe acute malnutrition – is caused by a lack of nutritious and safe foods and repeated bouts of disease, such as diarrhoea, measles and malaria.

Children become dangerously thin, and their weak immune systems make them vulnerable to growth failure, poor development, and death.

Photo courtesy of Russell Watkins/DFID.