At least 77 million children and adolescents have some form of malnutrition in the Middle East and North Africa

AMMAN, 19 August 2024 – At least 77 million – or 1 in 3 – children in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have some form of malnutrition, according to the Regional Nutrition Strategic Direction for MENA launched by UNICEF today in Amman. The new analysis finds a staggering 55 million children in the region are overweight or obese, with these forms of malnutrition on the rise among school-aged children in all 20 countries in the region. One in three school-aged children and adolescents are living with overweight and obesity.

A further 24 million children suffer from undernutrition, including stunting, wasting and thinness. In the past 20 years, progress has been made to reduce the regional prevalence of stunting - or low height for age – which is an indicator of chronic undernutrition in children under 5 years of age. Still, the problem persists at scale, affecting 10 million children under 5 years of age in the region.

“The Middle East and North Africa region is confronting an increasingly complex triple burden of malnutrition that is undermining the growth, development and future potential of its children,” said UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr. “Just one-third of young children are receiving the nutritious foods they need to grow, develop and thrive. This is a shocking statistic in 2024 and risks becoming even worse as conflicts, crises and other challenges in our region persist.”

The deepening crisis of malnutrition in the region is being driven by what and how children are fed, poor access to nutritious foods, clean water, medical care and other essential services, and the proliferation of cheap, unhealthy poor foods high in salt, sugar and fat. It is occurring against a complex backdrop of ongoing conflicts, political instability, climatic shocks, and rising food prices that together, deny children their right to nutritious food and limit humanitarian access to vulnerable communities.

From conflict-driven crises of hunger and child wasting in Sudan and Yemen, to double burdens of child stunting and overweight in Egypt or Libya, each unique context requires a tailored response that focuses on the forms of malnutrition in that particular context and the underlying causes behind them.
Many of the same challenges affect women of child-bearing age, with 9 million or 5 per cent of women in MENA being underweight and an alarming 114 million or 68 per cent living with overweight and obesity. In 17 countries in the region, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult women exceeds 60 per cent, significantly higher than the global average of 45 per cent.

The Regional Strategic Direction for Nutrition in MENA groups the 20 countries in the region into four ‘clusters’ and outlines strategic approaches to addressing the nutrition challenges in each.

“The face of malnutrition looks vastly different across the region,” added Khodr. “And so, we must address the underlying drivers of all forms of malnutrition according to each country’s context. With this strategic direction, UNICEF outlines how it intends to do this by the end of the decade to help ensure national food systems are strong and sustainable, quality nutrition services are within reach, and nutritious foods are available and affordable for every child – no matter who they are or where they live.”

UNICEF calls on governments to prioritize nutrition in their national development plans, policies, and budgets. UNICEF will continue supporting countries as they collect critical maternal and child nutrition data to enhance action and programme delivery. We must scale up efforts to prevent and treat all forms of malnutrition and ensure the right of every child to nutritious food and diets.

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Notes to editors

Definitions:
In line with global nutrition reports and data reporting, children is defined in this report as ages 0-19 years.

• Stunting: Child stunting refers to a child who is too short for their age and is the result of chronic malnutrition, usually due to poor nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood and/or infection and disease.
• Wasting: Child wasting refers to a child who is too thin for her or his height. Children become wasted if they lose too much weight or fail to gain sufficient weight, often due to a recent period of inadequate dietary intake or disease. It is the most visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition.
• Thinness: a measure for proportion of children aged 5–19 years with body mass index (BMI) less than two standard deviations below the median according to the WHO growth reference for school-age children and adolescents.

Key data points:

*Overlaps between different forms of malnutrition for children under 5 years of age were considered and deducted. This was done based on the latest estimates from the UNICEF/WHO/ World Bank Joint Malnutrition Estimates (JME) 2023 for 16 out 20 countries (such data are not available for Bahrain, Iran, Qatar and UAE)