(Adnkronos) – It is estimated that over 2.7 million children under five in Pakistan will suffer from acute malnutrition by September, as some areas of the country are still struggling to recover from the devastating floods of 2025. This was stated by Save the Children, the Organization that has been fighting for over 100 years to save children at risk and ensure their future. The new analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s leading authority on hunger monitoring, also found that approximately 706,000 children, out of 2.7 million in 45 rural districts assessed across three provinces, are at risk of suffering from severe acute malnutrition by September of this year.
Severe acute malnutrition – the most dangerous and lethal form of hunger – is a life-threatening condition requiring urgent medical care and specialized treatment, an organization statement highlights. Furthermore, 232,000 pregnant and lactating women will need treatment for acute malnutrition by September of this year, which jeopardizes the mother’s health and increases the risk of inadequate growth and development for the child.
The analysis shows that children become dangerously malnourished not only because families struggle to afford enough food. Many fall ill more often, do not benefit from optimal early childhood feeding practices, and do not receive the nutritional services they need, which makes the crisis even more severe. This is creating the conditions for potentially fatal malnutrition to become a real and urgent danger. In almost two-thirds of the districts analyzed, levels of acute malnutrition among children are critical.
Some of these districts were hit by deadly floods last year. More than 1,000 people died due to the floods, including 283 children, with the highest death toll in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where over 500 people lost their lives between June and October 2025.
“In many parts of Pakistan’s flood-devastated provinces, children’s lives are threatened by a lack of nutritious food, the absence of income for their caregivers, and the spread of diseases,” said Khuram Gondal, Save the Children’s Country Director in Pakistan. “Children are experiencing the consequences of one shock after another. Malnutrition is completely preventable. No child should fall ill or lose their life simply because they haven’t had enough to eat. Children are always the most vulnerable in food crises, and without sufficient food and a proper nutritional balance, they face a high risk of acute malnutrition, which hinders mental and physical development and increases the risk of contracting deadly diseases. Children in Pakistan urgently need more funding from international donors to survive past and future climate shocks.”
Save the Children’s intervention in response to the 2025 floods in Pakistan reached approximately 75,000 people, including over 30,000 children, with essential goods and services for relief and early recovery. The intervention included the provision of goods such as food, tents, and hygiene kits, and services ranging from health and nutrition to temporary learning centers for out-of-school children and child-friendly spaces. Save the Children has been operating in Pakistan since 1979 and has reached at least 14 million beneficiaries, including children, through programs in health and nutrition, education, child protection, livelihoods, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and humanitarian response.
