A commentary article published in the medical journal The Lancet, “Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality”, projected that an additional 6.7 million children will be wasted due to economic, food, and health system disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is widely expected that nutritional status and survival of children particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) will be at risk as income declines sharply, foods with high nutritional value become unavailable, and health, nutrition, and social security services are disrupted. This prediction underscores the need for immediate action and investments from the government and the private sector to protect children's right to nutrition in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The full article is available at:

Derek Headey, Rebecca Heidkamp, Saskia Osendarp, Marie Ruel, Nick Scott, Robert Black, Meera Shekar, Howarth Bouis, Augustin Flory, Lawrence Haddad, Neff Walker, on behalf of Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality. The Lancet.

Accessed on July 29

Contributor: SHIRATORI Sakiko (Research Strategy Office)