Malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza and hunger could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation”, the World Health Organization’s representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory said on Tuesday.
Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children in clinics who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where 11% of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.
“What we see is an increasing trend in generalised acute malnutrition,” Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir al-Balah. “I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half.”
“Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to healthcare, an entire generation will be permanently affected,” he said, warning of stunting and impaired cognitive development.
