More Than 54,000 Gaza Children Now Severely Malnourished, U.N. Warns

FRIDAY, Oct. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A new U.N. study warns that tens of thousands of young children in Gaza are suffering from life-threatening hunger as food shortages continue into a second year.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) estimates that about 54,600 children under 5 in Gaza are acutely malnourished. That includes more than 12,800 with severe wasting, a form of malnutrition that can quickly become fatal without medical care.

By August, roughly 16% of children between 6 months and 5 years of age suffered from acute wasting, the report found. 

The findings were published Oct. 8 in The Lancet, as a peace deal to end the conflict was in the works. They are based on screenings of nearly 220,000 children at clinics and health sites across Gaza between January 2024 and mid-August.

“Tens of thousands of preschool-aged children in the Gaza Strip are now suffering from preventable acute malnutrition and face an increased risk of mortality,” Masako Horino, the study’s lead author, said.

Experts said the findings confirm what aid groups have been warning for months: That widespread hunger and food shortages have reached catastrophic levels.

In an accompanying commentary, Jessica Fanzo of Columbia University, Dr. Paul Wise of Stanford University and Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta of Aga Khan University in Pakistan called the data “some of the most definitive evidence” yet of the region’s hunger crisis.

“It is now well established that the children of Gaza are starving and require immediate and sustained humanitarian assistance,” they wrote.

Israeli officials have denied that starvation is occurring in Gaza, but international health agencies report rising deaths linked to malnutrition. 

Gaza’s health ministry said 461 people, including 157 children, have died from hunger-related causes since the war began, most of them this year, The Associated Press reported.

Malnutrition rates briefly improved during a six-week ceasefire in early 2025, when aid deliveries resumed. But conditions worsened after supplies were restricted again for several months, the study found.

Throughout the conflict, Israel limited aid shipments, including food and medical supplies, most likely due to security concerns. 

A U.S.- and Israel-backed distribution system introduced in May restricted deliveries to a few sites across Gaza, forcing civilians to pass through military lines to access food.

The U.N. reports more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed near those sites.

Aid groups, including Edesia, a U.S.-based nonprofit that provides therapeutic food, are trying to meet the growing need. 

Edesia shipped 1,500 boxes of ready-to-use food to Gaza in late September and plans to send 15,000 more by air and sea in the coming weeks.

The U.N. agency behind the study said two members of its nutrition team were among 21 health workers killed in Gaza this year. In total, more than 370 UNRWA staff have been killed in the conflict.

More information

The World Health Organization has more on malnutrition in children.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, Oct. 8, 2205

What This Means For You

Malnutrition can have lifelong effects on a child’s growth and development.