A UNICEF report in June 2024 defined ‘child food poverty’ as a child’s inability to access a nutritious and diverse diet in early childhood. Many factors cause millions of children to suffer from child food poverty, including growing inequalities, conflicts, climate crises, rising food prices, over-availability of unhealthy foods, harmful food marketing strategies, and poor child feeding practices. Child food poverty is particularly harmful in early childhood, threatening a child’s life, physical growth, and cognitive development, trapping children and their families in a cycle of poverty and deprivation. The report concluded that:
• 25% of the world’s children (181 million children under the age of five) face severe child food poverty in early childhood.
• Progress towards eliminating severe child food poverty is slow.
• Children from poor and non-poor households suffer from severe child food poverty, indicating that household income is not the only driver of child food poverty.
• Children suffering from severe child food poverty lack many nutrient-rich foods, while unhealthy foods have become entrenched in their diets.
• The global food and nutrition crisis, local conflicts, and climate shocks are exacerbating severe child food poverty, especially in fragile settings.
• Commitment, action, and accountability are needed to address child malnutrition. Governments and partners must invest in activities to improve children’s access to a variety of nutritious foods to eliminate severe child food poverty.
• UNICEF calls on national governments, development and humanitarian partners, donors, civil society, the media, and academic and research organizations to advance efforts to reduce child food poverty as a condition for achieving global and national nutrition and development goals, and as a measure of success in meeting children’s right to food and nutrition; and to allocate resources to end child food poverty.
• Transform food systems by ensuring that food environments make nutritious, diverse and healthy foods available, affordable and a desirable feeding option for young children, and that food and beverage companies commit to policies to protect children from unhealthy foods and beverages.
• Activate social protection systems to address income poverty in ways that take into account the food and nutrition needs of the most vulnerable children and families, including social cash transfers to protect children most at risk of child food poverty.

Finally, data systems must be strengthened to assess the prevalence and severity of child food poverty; early detection of increases in child food poverty, including in fragile and humanitarian contexts; and tracking national and global progress