Child Malnutrition during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

In the period before the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of people suffering from malnutrition had escalated worldwide, despite the efforts made by leading international organizations to mitigate this phenomenon. During the prepandemic period, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank reported impressive data from Asia and Africa, where 381 and 250 million people were undernourished in 2019, respectively, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (48 million). In some areas of the world, the combined effect of conflict, climate crisis, and socioeconomic fragility threatens to have serious repercussions on the nutritional status of populations, particularly in children. From 2015 to 2019, malnutrition accounted for nearly one-half of the total number of child deaths worldwide (5.2 million in 2019) with significant costs in economic and human capital development terms. This situation was further exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a European Pediatric Association/Union of National European Pediatric Societies and Association analysis, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause major health and nutrition effects worldwide (Table; available at www.jpeds.com). Before the pandemic, an estimated 144 million children under age 5 (21.3% of the total) had chronic malnutrition (stunting), 47 million (6.9%) had acute malnutrition (wasting), and 38 million (5.6%) were overweight, with the prevalence increasing in this group from 4.9% in 2000. Chronic malnutrition exacerbated by the pandemic threatens to seriously impair the mental, physical, and cognitive development of children, who may experience difficulty learning, entering the workforce, and poor social interaction within their communities. This article, prepared by the European Pediatric Association/Union of National European Pediatric Societies and Associations Social Pediatrics Working Group in collaboration with the International Pediatric Association, is designed to raise awareness among pediatricians, governments, decision-makers, and public health officials of the risks to childhood nutrition during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and to emphasize the importance of developing appropriate nutrition interventions and programs aimed to reduce the burden of COVID-19-related malnutrition in children.