New research from Save the Children has found that one in 10 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 10 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 2026, 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 14 percent, affecting 3.7 million children in 2026.

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 600 essential healthcare facilities to close. About 4 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 70 percent from $3.27bn in 2022 to $1bn in 2025. This follows the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 as the United States and allies withdrew from the country. Since then, foreign aid has been limited.

More than halfway through 2026, only $438m has been secured in humanitarian aid, according to Save the Children. That means a 74 percent funding gap.

Save the Children said it has managed to keep 14 health clinics open, and that it is the only organisation providing healthcare to 10,000 people in the mountainous areas of northern Afghanistan.

A spokesman for UNICEF told Global News Insight: “Acute funding shortages have forced some health centres and nutrition sites to scale back or close, leaving children and families without the care they depend on.

“For a severely malnourished child, that can mean a longer journey, delayed treatment – or no treatment at all.”

UNICEF explained that when a local treatment facility closes, a child with acute malnutrition can lose access to care that could otherwise save their life.

“Children already receiving treatment may have their recovery interrupted, while newly identified children may never be enrolled in treatment at all. Without timely treatment, a child’s condition can deteriorate rapidly, leading to serious complications and even death.”

Another complication is that Afghanistan’s population has increased by 12 percent since September 2023, 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.

The crisis has been compounded by back-to-back years of drought, destructive heavy rainfall and flash floods, UNICEF said. Regional instability affecting cross-border trade and livelihoods, as well as large population movements, is placing additional strain on already limited services, household food security and livelihoods.

“For children, these overlapping shocks mean less nutritious food at home, greater exposure to illness and fewer functioning services when they urgently need help,” the spokesman said.

If nothing changes, more children are likely to become severely malnourished, fall dangerously ill and die from causes that are entirely preventable and treatable, UNICEF said.

“Children whose care is interrupted may relapse or deteriorate, while others may reach services only when their condition is critical. The next six months could determine whether thousands of vulnerable girls and boys recover and thrive – or lose their chance to survive.”

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 2021.

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 2021, 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 2021.

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 2021.

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.

“UNICEF’s nutrition response is severely underfunded. Of the $180m UNICEF requires for nutrition under its 2026 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal, only 22 per cent has been funded,” the spokesman for UNICEF said.

“Urgent, flexible funding is needed now to sustain, restore and expand lifesaving services so that a child with acute malnutrition is not turned away, left untreated or forced to travel farther than their fragile condition allows.”