Close Menu
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

What's On

The First Widespread Cure for HIV Could Be in Children

1 August 2025

Apple Plans to Open New Retail Stores in India and the UAE, Says Tim Cook  

1 August 2025

Battlefield 6 Preview – Familiar Yet Cinematic

1 August 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Just In
  • The First Widespread Cure for HIV Could Be in Children
  • Apple Plans to Open New Retail Stores in India and the UAE, Says Tim Cook  
  • Battlefield 6 Preview – Familiar Yet Cinematic
  • The Best Laptops for College Students
  • Review: Bike Friday All-Day Lightweight Electric Bike
  • Amazon Great Freedom Festival Sale 2025: Best Deals on Smartphones Under Rs. 30,000
  • 14 Great Couches You Can Buy Online
  • Lava Blaze Dragon 5G With a 5,000mAh Battery Goes on Sale in India: Price, Offers
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release
Subscribe
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
Home » The Grave Long-Term Effects of the Gaza Malnutrition Crisis
News

The Grave Long-Term Effects of the Gaza Malnutrition Crisis

News RoomBy News Room31 July 20253 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit Telegram Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

The moment Merry Fitzpatrick realized that Gaza’s malnutrition crisis had progressed to a newer and deadlier phase was when surgeons at the few hospitals still operational on the Strip reported that wounds were no longer closing.

“There’s so much traumatic injury, like blast wounds and broken bones,” says Fitzpatrick, an assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University. “But they’re not healing, because people don’t have the nutrients to build the collagen necessary to close them. So wounds that are a month, even two months old, still look as fresh as if they had occurred in the last week.”

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, malnutrition deaths in the territory since October 2023 have now reached 154, with 89 of the fatalities coming in children. The World Health Organization reported this week that July witnessed a particular spike in deaths, with 63 malnutrition-related fatalities reported at health facilities, including 38 adults, one child over five, and 24 children under five. Most of these patients were declared dead on arrival.

The extent of this crisis has been conveyed to the watching world through photos of emaciated babies and infants with thinning hair. Fitzpatrick, who studies starvation and its biological effects, explains that in conditions of extreme scarcity, the body has an inbuilt prioritization system, designed to preserve the most vital organs, the heart and the brain, until the very end. After using up its primary fuel supplies—glycogen stored in the liver and muscles—she says the body uses fat for energy, before degrading bone, muscle, and then if necessary, the more resilient organs like the liver in order to extract protein. “The skin and hair are the first to be neglected,” says Fitzpatrick. “Hair will just fall out. A lot of times it’ll change color. The skin becomes very thin.”

In some cases, severe protein deficiency can cause a condition known as kwashiorkor, or famine edema, characterized by swelling due to fluid moving into the body’s tissues, particularly in the abdomen. “There’s different types of acute malnutrition,” says Fitzpatrick. “There’s the getting thin type and there’s the kwashiorkor, and we see both in Gaza. In babies, you might see it in their face. Their cheeks get puffy and you’re like, ‘Oh, they’re doing OK.’ But no, that’s fluid.”

Much of our understanding of acute malnutrition comes from studies carried out on survivors of the Holocaust, major famines of the 20th century such as the Great Chinese Famine and the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s, and anorexia. Marko Kerac, associate professor of global child health and nutrition at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, describes the body as going into a progressive winding down process where for a period, people are malnourished but still medically stable, before entering a far more serious phase characterized by loss of appetite, lethargy, and either apathy or anxiety.

Based on the latest reports from Gaza, with the WHO describing nearly one in five children under the age of five being acutely malnourished, Kerac says that more and more people are entering this latter phase. Statistics collected by the NGO the Global Nutrition Cluster show a surge of cases since early June, with more than 5,000 under fives being admitted to Gaza’s four malnutrition treatment centers this month and 6,500 in June. “Youngest children are more vulnerable because their organs are still developing,” says Kerac.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleSamsung Galaxy S26 Pro, Galaxy S26 Edge Could Bring Battery Improvements Over Their Predecessors
Next Article Oppo K13 Turbo, K13 Turbo Pro India Launch Timeline Leaked

Related Articles

News

The First Widespread Cure for HIV Could Be in Children

1 August 2025
News

The Best Laptops for College Students

1 August 2025
News

Review: Bike Friday All-Day Lightweight Electric Bike

1 August 2025
News

14 Great Couches You Can Buy Online

1 August 2025
News

Palantir Is Extending Its Reach Even Further Into Government

1 August 2025
News

Measles Cases Are Soaring in Mexico

1 August 2025
Demo
Top Articles

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024103 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views

Oppo Reno 14, Reno 14 Pro India Launch Timeline and Colourways Leaked

27 May 202582 Views

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Latest News
Phones

Amazon Great Freedom Festival Sale 2025: Best Deals on Smartphones Under Rs. 30,000

News Room1 August 2025
News

14 Great Couches You Can Buy Online

News Room1 August 2025
Phones

Lava Blaze Dragon 5G With a 5,000mAh Battery Goes on Sale in India: Price, Offers

News Room1 August 2025
Most Popular

The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman

13 January 2025126 Views

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024103 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views
Our Picks

The Best Laptops for College Students

1 August 2025

Review: Bike Friday All-Day Lightweight Electric Bike

1 August 2025

Amazon Great Freedom Festival Sale 2025: Best Deals on Smartphones Under Rs. 30,000

1 August 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
© 2025 Best in Technology. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.