Malnutrition is the most severe child health crisis globally, and climate change will exacerbate the situation, according to philanthropist and former Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reported on Tuesday that between now and 2050, climate change will lead to 40 million more children experiencing stunted growth and 28 million more suffering from wasting, the most extreme and irreversible forms of malnutrition.
“Unless children receive the right nutrition, both in utero and during their early years, they can never fully recover,” Gates told Reuters in an online interview last week, emphasizing the impact of poor nutrition on a child’s physical and mental development. Children who lack adequate nutrition are also more susceptible to diseases such as measles and malaria, and are at higher risk of early death.
“Approximately 90% of the adverse effects of climate change are mediated through the food system. This includes years where crop failures occur due to drought or excessive rainfall,” Gates explained. He was speaking ahead of the release of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's annual Goalkeepers report, which monitors progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on poverty reduction and health improvement. The report includes the aforementioned projections.
In 2023, the World Health Organisation estimated that 148 million children were affected by stunting and 45 million by wasting. Gates advocated for increased funding for nutrition, particularly through a new platform led by Unicef, the Child Nutrition Fund, which aims to coordinate donor financing. He also called for more research, but emphasized that this should not divert funds from proven initiatives like routine childhood vaccinations.
“Nutrition has been under-researched... it’s crucial to recognize how significant this issue is,” Gates added, highlighting that initiatives such as food fortification or enhancing access to prenatal multivitamins could be as effective as certain vaccines in improving child health in the poorest countries. The Gates Foundation announced in January that it plans to allocate more funds to global health this year than ever before—$8.6 billion—as broader funding efforts face stagnation.
