New research from Save the Children has found that one in ۱۰ infants and very young children in Afghanistan is now suffering from acute malnourishment.
Acute malnutrition refers to a sudden and severe drop in weight or nutritional health over a short period of time.
The number of children at risk of malnutrition in Afghanistan is on the rise as essential health services close due to a lack of healthcare funding, the aid agency said on Thursday.
We break down why Afghanistan is facing a child malnourishment crisis.
What does the research show?
The United Kingdom-based Save the Children said United Nations figures show that malnutrition among young children in Afghanistan is increasing. Nearly one in ۱۰ Afghan children below the age of five is now in a state of malnutrition, and the proportion of children affected is rising, not stabilising.
The agency added that the figures show that levels of acute malnutrition had worsened in two-thirds of provinces in the second quarter of ۲۰۲۶, compared with the same period last year.
Over the past four years, Save the Children said, acute malnutrition in children below five has surged by ۱۴ percent, now affecting ۳.۷ million children in ۲۰۲۶.
What is acute malnourishment?
Acute malnourishment, also referred to as wasting, is a life-threatening condition where a child is dangerously underweight for their height.
This happens due to a drop in food intake or due to severe illness, leading the body to rapidly lose fat and muscle.
Why is malnutrition in Afghan children increasing?
Save the Children said the rise in malnutrition is largely down to a slowing of humanitarian aid in the country, which has forced about ۶۰۰ essential healthcare facilities to close. About ۴ million people, half of them children, were previously reliant on these services.
Over the past four years, humanitarian aid for Afghanistan has fallen by almost ۷۰ percent from $۳.۲۷bn in ۲۰۲۲ to $۱bn in ۲۰۲۵. This follows the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August ۲۰۲۱ as the United States and allies withdrew from the country. Since then, foreign aid has been limited.
More than halfway through ۲۰۲۶, only $۴۳۸m has been secured in humanitarian aid, according to Save the Children. That means a ۷۴ percent funding gap.
Save the Children said it has managed to keep ۱۴ health clinics open, and that it is the only organisation providing healthcare to ۱۰,۰۰۰ people in the mountainous areas of northern Afghanistan.
Another complication is that Afghanistan’s population has increased by ۱۲ percent since September ۲۰۲۳, largely as a result of more than six million Afghans being returned from Pakistan and Iran, as both countries tightened conditions for Afghan refugees to remain and ramped up deportations.
“The world cannot look away. Severe hunger, the staggering number of returnees and mass internal displacement due to disasters, recent conflict and four years of drought are stretching limited humanitarian resources to the brink,” said Ashish Damle, the country director for Save the Children in Afghanistan.
“The international community now faces a choice: Continue responding only after families reach breaking point, or act early enough to protect children’s lives, rights and futures,” Damle said.
Why has humanitarian aid to Afghanistan dropped?
Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan has fallen sharply over the past five years, largely because international donors retreated after the Taliban returned to power in ۲۰۲۱.
The Taliban takeover, which followed the withdrawal of US forces and the collapse of President Ashraf Ghani’s government, led many donors to limit or redirect funding, tighten sanctions, and impose stricter conditions on aid operations.
One specific issue is the Taliban ban on female humanitarian staff, which has severely restricted agencies’ ability to deliver aid and services to women and children. Lack of funding has also forced many organisations to close down or suspend programmes.
Before ۲۰۲۱, the US was Afghanistan’s largest aid donor, financing major development and reconstruction projects, and disbursing humanitarian aid. Since the Taliban’s takeover, however, most US aid to Afghanistan now goes through indirect channels, such as the UN or NGOs, and is now a fraction of what it used to be before ۲۰۲۱.
Furthermore, the Trump administration has radically cut foreign aid since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
The US also expanded sanctions on leading members of the Taliban and froze Afghan state assets held in the US, since it left the country in ۲۰۲۱.
Following the Taliban’s takeover, the European Union and World Bank have also halted large-scale reconstruction funding schemes and gradually restarted much smaller-scale, emergency‑style programmes with humanitarian aid delivered through NGOs instead, experts say.
