Sky News has reported a growing crisis of child malnutrition in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, where one child dies every three days in the provincial public hospital.
According to the Sky News report published on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, citing United Nations agencies, an estimated 4.7 million children and women across Afghanistan are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition.
The report notes that 90 percent of children under the age of five are living in food poverty.
Doctors at the Badakhshan Provincial Hospital have warned that the mortality rate among children is on the rise.
Since the beginning of this year, 53 children have died at the hospital, a 50 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
The suspension of U.S. aid has had a devastating impact on Afghanistan’s healthcare services.
Daniel Timme, a UNICEF spokesperson, said: “The nutritional situation of children in Afghanistan is extremely alarming. More than 3.5 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, including 1.4 million who are dangerously thin.”
Earlier reports from UN agencies indicated that Badakhshan has the highest number of malnutrition cases among all provinces in Afghanistan.
