A new study published in The Lancet Global Health journal reveals that in the months leading up to the war in Gaza, most families there were struggling to feed their young children as they prepared for their first year of school.

The research by UNRWA underscores the marginal food and nutrition situation people in Gaza were facing before the outbreak of the war on 7 October 2023 and their vulnerability to its devastating effects.

It found that more than half of incoming first graders were not eating either a morning or evening meal each day, including two-thirds of children in the most food-insecure families.

“Gazan children were not nutritionally prepared to endure even the first few months of food shortages. Since then, we have seen alarming increases in malnutrition, disease, and death. What is most needed now is a ceasefire and lasting peace. Anything less will only lead to more suffering in Gaza,” said Dr. Akihiro Seita, Director of UNRWA’s Health Department and senior author of the study.

The study found that three out of four parents were worried about their families not having enough food, running out of food, eating low-quality meals, or needing to skip meals. Some 84 per cent of families relied on food aid, providing a critical lifeline, yet 4.5 per cent of children were still extremely thin.