1 in 6 children in the Pacific region experience severe food poverty due to hardship, inequality and climate crises – UNICEF

NEW YORK/SUVA, 7 June 2024 – Approximately 181 million children worldwide experience severe child food poverty, including 1 in 6 children under the age of 5 in the Pacific region*. This makes them up to 50 percent more likely to be wasted as well as suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, which are life-threatening forms of malnutrition, according to a new report from UNICEF released today.

First time, Child Food Poverty: Nutritional Poverty in Early Childhood It analyzes the effects and causes of nutritional deprivation among the world’s youngest people in nearly 100 countries and across income groups, including six Pacific Island countries. It warns that millions of children under the age of five are unable to access and consume a nutritious and varied diet to maintain optimal growth and development during early childhood and beyond.

Children who consume no more than two of the eight defined food groups are considered to be in severe child food poverty. One in six children in the Pacific region has this condition. These children are fed exclusively breast milk/milk and/or a starchy staple food such as rice, corn or wheat. Overall, in nearly 100 countries analyzed, fewer than 10 percent of children experiencing severe food poverty are fed fruits and vegetables. Less than 5 percent eat nutrient-dense foods such as eggs, fish, poultry or meat.

“Children experiencing severe food poverty are children living on the brink. This is the reality for millions of young children right now, and it can have irreversible negative effects on their survival, growth and brain development,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Children who consume just two food groups a day (for example, rice and some milk) are up to 50 percent more likely to suffer from severe forms of malnutrition.”

The report warns that while countries are still recovering from the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising inequalities, conflict and the effects of the climate crisis are pushing food prices and the cost of living to record high levels.

In Kiribati, a country experiencing the intense impacts of the climate crisis, including drought and high sea level rise, 35 percent of children live in severe child food poverty and in the most vulnerable communities. Kiribati is followed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands with 29 percent, Samoa with 23 percent, Tuvalu with 14 percent, Tonga with 13 percent and Fiji with 8 percent.

“Of the 1,700 children under five who die each year in the Pacific, 80 percent die before their first birthday,” said Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF Pacific Representative. “Many of these children die from nutrition-related diseases, the source of which is a lack of access to healthy and affordable foods within healthy health systems, as well as a lack of awareness of healthy eating habits among children, their families and communities in the Pacific.”

The report finds that of nearly 100 countries analysed, almost half (46 per cent) of all severe cases of child food poverty were among poor households where income poverty was a major factor, with 54 per cent (97 million children) They live in relatively wealthier households; Poor food environments and nutritional practices in these households are among the main drivers of early childhood food poverty.

There are several factors fueling the worldwide child food poverty crisis, including food systems that fail to provide children with nutritious, safe and accessible options, the inability of families to afford nutritious foods, and the inability of parents to adopt and maintain positive child feeding practices. In many cases, cheap, nutrient-dense and unhealthy ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages are being aggressively marketed to parents and families and are becoming the new norm in children’s diets. These unhealthy foods and drinks reach an alarming rate of young children experiencing child food poverty; This causes more nutritious and healthy foods to be excluded from their daily diets.

Governments in the Pacific must take immediate action to combat the food security crisis, including through policies and regulations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, as well as to control the marketing of unhealthy foods. They should promote healthier food options, redesign preschool, elementary, and high school nutrition programs, and design new guidelines for food in and around educational institutions. The food system as a whole needs to be improved to prevent all forms of malnutrition.

UNICEF works in collaboration with relevant ministries to improve the quality of preventive, promotional and curative health and nutrition services in the Pacific. This also includes improving policies and regulations for a better food system that encourages healthier food options.

In particular, UNICEF works with these ministries to implement quality, high-impact nutrition interventions and promote more nutrition-sensitive policies and regulations.

To end child food poverty, UNICEF urgently calls on governments, development and humanitarian organisations, donors, civil society and the food and drink sector to:

• Transform food systems by enacting regulations to control the marketing of unhealthy foods to ensure that nutritious, diverse, and healthy foods are the most accessible, affordable, and desirable option for caregivers to feed young children.
• Leverage health systems to provide essential nutrition services to prevent and treat early childhood malnutrition; including support for community health and nutrition workers to counsel parents and families on child feeding and care practices.
• Activate social protection systems that integrate nutrition, agriculture and health to address income poverty through social transfers (cash, food and vouchers) to address the food and nutrition needs of vulnerable children and their families.

To accelerate action to prevent, detect and treat severe food poverty and malnutrition in children, the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) was launched last year by UNICEF, with support from the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Bill and Melinda Gates. Foundation and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). CNF is a UNICEF-led multi-partner financing mechanism that encourages domestic investments to end child malnutrition. UNICEF calls on governments, donors and financial partners to support CNF and prioritize sustainable policies and practices to end severe child food poverty and malnutrition.

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Notes to Editors:

*Includes only the Pacific Island countries analyzed in the Report, including Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Tonga and Fiji:

Download the full report.

Food poverty categories for children
If children are fed:
They consume 0-2 food groups a day, experience severe child food poverty,

They consume 3-4 food groups a day, experience moderate levels of child food poverty,

Children who consume 5 or more food groups per day do not experience food poverty.

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