September 4, 2026 The rate of life-threatening, acute (wasting) malnutrition among children in Haiti has grown from 7.2% in 2023 to 9% in 2026, alongside worstening dietary diversity, according to the latest national survey findings which began in January and were just released.
Most of the increase in malnutrition was in the form of moderate wasting malnutrition, from which most preventable deaths occur. Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), through its national food and nutrition coordination unit (UCPNANu), released preliminary results of the 2026 national SMART nutrition survey on August 28. Data were collected from 1 to 16 July 2026 across 18 strata, the nine provincial departments, eight communes of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, and the balance of Ouest department, from a planned sample of 16,176 households in roughly 1,206 clusters, including 105 reserve cluster.
See: https://weshare.unicef.org/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&STID=2AM40870CZ3M&_gl=&WS=SearchResults
Wasting malnutrition was the worst where gangs interfere with health care. The Port-au-Prince metropolitan area records the highest malnutrition rate of any stratum at 8.8 percent, ahead of Artibonite (8.7), Reste-Ouest (7.8), and Grande Anse (7.2). The traditionally food-insecure Nord-Ouest sits at 6.4 percent, while Nord, Sud, and Sud-Est cluster near 3.1 percent the “low” band.
Applied to a population of roughly 1.1 to 1.2 million children aged 6–59 months, a 7.4 percent point prevalence implies on the order of 85,000 children wasted at any moment.
The government’s nutrition report adds that “UNICEF’s Haiti appeal was 87 percent unfunded at the end of the first quarter, and the nutrition sector was funded at 16 percent in 2025. A survey documenting a 45 percent rise in child wasting has landed in a [ongoing aid] response that cannot currently treat the [full] caseload it already knows about.”
Within the metropolitan area the gradient is steep and tracks territorial control almost exactly. Cité Soleil (gang-controlled) has 11.4 percent malnutrition, the only zone in the country in the UN’s “high” category, with moderate malnutrition alone at 10.5 percent. Delmas follows at 9.6, Port-au-Prince commune at 8.8, Croix-des-Bouquets at 8.7, Carrefour at 8.0; Kenscoff records 3.4.
Early initiation of breastfeeding rose from 48 to 68 percent, and exclusive breastfeeding under six months nearly doubled, from 17.5 to 33 percent.
UNICEF’s latest brief about their work in Haiti reports: “To ensure the continuity of nutrition services despite ongoing humanitarian and logistical challenges, UNICEF supported the prepositioning of 34,222 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) including those sourced by local partner Meds and Foods for Kids (MFK) and essential medicines across the country’s ten Supply and Input Distribution Centers, followed by their onward distribution to health facilities to prevent stockouts. Of this total, 19,909 cartons were strategically pre-positioned in priority locations across the country based on humanitarian and climate-related risks, while the remaining quantities were retained to support ongoing supply needs and replenishment efforts.
“As part of preparedness, risk mitigation, and response efforts, 9,750 cartons were strategically pre-positioned in the departments of Ouest, Artibonite, and Centre, which continue to face significant access constraints and humanitarian needs due to insecurity. In parallel, 10,159 cartons were pre-positioned across the four
departments of the Grand Sud (Grand’Anse, Nippes, Sud and Sud-Est) and the Northwest department in preparation for the hurricane season.”
– Contributed by WHES Board member Steve Hansch
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