Guatemala Reports 42 Child Deaths From Acute Malnutrition This Year
The toll works out to about one child a week, and 46 more cases are under review as a lawmaker questions whether the numbers can be trusted.
See where this is ›GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala —
Forty-two Guatemalan children under age 5 died of acute malnutrition in the first 41 weeks of this year, about one a week, according to Ministry of Health figures through Oct. 17. Mireya Palmieri, head of the Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security, gave the figures Oct. 29 at a congressional hearing with the VOS bloc, Prensa Libre reported.
See where this is ›The deaths came in 11 departments, with Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango, San Marcos and Escuintla accounting for 78%. More than three of every four children who died were under 2, 55% came from Indigenous peoples and 59% were girls. The ministry reviewed 222 suspected deaths and ruled out 134, and the remaining 46 are still being investigated, so the count could rise.
Health workers have identified 17,482 children with acute malnutrition this year, 17.9% of them in severe condition. Palmieri's office said 58% of the children identified had recovered, based on data through Oct. 2. She also said chronic malnutrition among 2-year-olds fell from 46% in 2024 to 44.2% in 2026.
Deputy Jairo Flores disputed those figures. He said the ministry does not explain what happens to the cases it excludes, which could hide undercounting, and he called the numbers unreliable. Flores also said hunger in Guatemala falls hardest on women, Indigenous people and the poor.
The hearing also examined the Ministry of Social Development's aid programs, including community kitchens at 176 sites in 167 municipalities and a Q325 food cash transfer now reaching 75,000 beneficiaries. Bertha Zapeta, vice minister of social protection, spoke for the ministry. Flores asked whether the programs are worth what they cost, and Deputy José Chic questioned how beneficiary lists are put together. Lawmakers asked that aid deliveries not be politicized.
What we don't know yet: How many of the 46 cases under review will be added to the toll, and whether the official count misses deaths. Prensa Libre reported that government institutions will not measure the programs' effect on malnutrition until 2027.
