Malnutrition threatens future Afghan generations

Roya carefully spoon-feeds her daughter fortified milk in a ward for malnourished children, praying the tiny infant will avoid a condition that stalks one in ten young children in Afghanistan after decades of conflict.

The nine-month-old had been hospitalised three times already in remote Badakhshan province because her mother had trouble breastfeeding.

"She has gained a bit of weight, she has a bit of a glow," said 35-year-old Roya, cradling baby Bibi Aseya at the Baharak district hospital.

"She drinks milk as well but she still doesn't smile," she added.

"I would stay awake day and night, now I can sleep."

Poor nutrition is rife in a country plagued by economic, humanitarian and climate crises two and a half years since the Taliban returned to power.

Ten percent of children under five in Afghanistan are malnourished and 45 percent are stunted — meaning they are small for their age in part due to poor nutrition — according to the United Nations.

Afghanistan has one of the world's highest rates of stunting in children under five, said Daniel Timme, communications head for the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF.

"If not detected and treated within the first two years of a child's life the condition (stunting) becomes irreversible and the affected child will never be able to develop mentally and physically to its full potential," he said.

"This is not only tragic for the individual child but must have a severe negative impact on the development of the whole country when more than two out of five children are affected," he told AFP.

 Two patients per bed 

Malnutrition has been exacerbated by the upheaval sparked by the Taliban's sweep to power in 2021.

A plunge in...