Child Food Poverty Report
A Nutrition Crisis in Early Childhood in Lebanon - June 2023
- Available in:
- English
- العربية
Highlights
in Lebanon today, due to the economic crisis, three out of every four children under the age of five live in food poverty (among Lebanese and refugee population). These children are not fed a diverse diet to grow and develop to their full potential. Meaning they are fed poor diets that include at most only four food groups. This is indeed a children's crisis and is affecting their ability to survive and thrive.
Worryingly, more than one in every four children under the age of five (among Lebanese and refugee population) – or 85,000 children – live in and suffer from severe food poverty, which means they are fed extremely poor diets consisting of at most two food groups, often a cereal and possibly some milk. Children living in extreme food poverty are especially vulnerable to severe stunting and wasting, the most dangerous forms of undernutrition in early childhood, which can increase children's risk of death by up to 12 times and impair their ability to develop and reach their full potential.
