(NewsNation) — Around nine out of 10 children in the Gaza Strip are experiencing severe food poverty, UNICEF is reporting, meaning that they are only surviving on two or fewer food groups they need each day.

In a report published Thursday called “Child Food Poverty: Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood,” UNICEF writes that months of hostilities and restrictions on humanitarian aid have collapsed food and health systems in the Gaza Strip, “resulting in catastrophic consequences for children and their families.”

The fact that five rounds of data collected between December 2023 and April 2024 show that 90% of children are not getting the food they need is “evidence of the horrific impact the conflict and restrictions are having on families’ ability to meet children’s food needs – and the speed at which it places children at risk of life-threatening malnutrition,” UNICEF wrote.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last 8 months from Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in Gaza, which began after Hamas militants stormed Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage Oct. 7.

The Associated Press reports that as Israel has been expanding its offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah — which was once the main hub of humanitarian aid operations — food, medicine and other supplies have been cut off to Palestinians.

While Israel has maintained that it puts no limit on humanitarian supplies for civilians in Gaza, many countries, including some of Israel’s staunchest allies, have been urging the country to do more to let aid in. On Tuesday, an independent group known as the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, called on Israel to do the same, saying a famine in Gaza was “possible, if not likely.”

Restrictions on humanitarian access have impeded the data collection to prove this, though, FEWS NET cautioned. In its own report, FEWS NET said people — including children — are dying of hunger-related causes across the territory and that those conditions will likely persist until at least July if there isn’t a fundamental change in how food aid is distributed.

UNICEF Food Poverty Report

Other findings of UNICEF’s report show that 181 million children under the age of five globally are experiencing severe child food poverty. That means 1 in 4 are up to 50% more likely to experience wasting, “a life-threatening form of malnutrition.”

“Children living in severe food poverty are children living on the brink. Right now, that is the reality for millions of young children, and this can have an irreversible negative impact on their survival, growth and brain development,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. 

As countries recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, growing inequities, conflicts, and the climate crisis have increased food prices and the cost of living to record-high levels. 

About 65% of the children living in severe food poverty are from just 20 countries. Of these, 64 million are in South Asia and 59 million are in sub-Saharan Africa. Somalia, which the report says experiences conflict, drought and floods, has 63% of children in severe poverty. In some communities, over 80% of caregivers said their child had not been able to eat for an entire day.

“Several factors are fueling the child food poverty crisis, including food systems that fail to provide children with nutritious, safe and accessible options, families’ inability to afford nutritious foods, and parent’s inability to adopt and sustain positive child feeding practices,” the report said.

Success Stories

Still, the UNICEF report noted that there have been some successes.

• Burkina Faso has halved the rate of severe child food poverty from 67% in 2010 to 32% in 2021
• Nepal has reduced the severe child food poverty rate from 20% in 2011 to 8% in 2022
• Peru has kept the rate below 5% since 2014, even with a “prolonged period” of economic decline
• Rwanda cut its rate from 20% in 2010 to 12% in 2020