UNICEF has warned that one million children in Afghanistan are suffering from severe acute malnutrition severe enough to be life-threatening, with the agency cautioning that without urgent treatment those children risk dying. In total, 3.7 million Afghan children are affected by wasting — a form of acute malnutrition — with cases rising by a third compared to the same period last year, and hospitals in parts of southern Afghanistan now seeing three or four severely malnourished children for every available bed. The crisis has deepened since the Taliban's return to power following the 2021 U.S. withdrawal triggered an economic collapse, with infants bearing the heaviest toll: babies under six months account for nearly 40% of the most critical hospital admissions.