COVID-19 and its ramifications are pushing children who already live in hunger to beyond breaking point, killing an estimated 10,000 more youngsters a month as meager farms have no way of delivering produce to markets while villages are isolated from food and medical supplies, the United Nations has warned.
Furthermore, more than 550,000 additional children each month are being struck by what is called wasting, which manifests in spindly limbs and distended bellies, according to the UN.
In the call to action shared with The Associated Press prior to its release, four UN bodies said that increasing malnutrition would have long-term consequences, with individual tragedies likely to turn into a generational catastrophe.
"The food security effects of the COVID crisis are going to reflect many years from now," said Francesco Branca, the World Health Organization's head of nutrition. "There is going to be a societal effect.”