Empowering families and strengthening nutrition systems
Protecting children and women in Cambodia from the life-long consequences of undernutrition
Cambodia continues to face high levels of undernutrition, particularly among the poorest communities. Malnutrition rates among children under 5 years are some of the highest in the region: 22 per cent of children have stunted growth, while 10 per cent have moderate to severe wasting.
Undernutrition rates in infants under 6 months of age have surpassed 10 per cent across all indicators, including underweight, stunting and wasting. In 2024, the CNF and partners, working alongside the Ministry of Health, made significant gains to scale up effective, community-based nutrition interventions and reinforce the health system’s ability to identify and treat the most vulnerable children and women.
A major focus was empowering parents and frontline health and nutrition workers to identify children with severe wasting using colour-coded measurement tapes.
The Family MUAC (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference) approach was expanded to reach 1,095 villages across three priority provinces, representing 8 per cent of the total villages in Cambodia. With support from local partners, 2,190 Village Health Support Group members were trained to screen children for wasting.
As a result, nearly 20,000 children were assessed, and more than 500 children with moderate or severe wasting were identified and referred for treatment.
Promoting IYCF practices and growth monitoring was also a major focus area. Over 248,000 caregivers of children under two received IYCF counselling through facility visits and community outreach, helping embed nutrition-focused behaviours in homes during the critical first 1,000 days of life. Growth monitoring was integrated into routine health services, and frontline workers were trained to use the data to detect early signs of undernutrition and ensure timely referrals.
To strengthen service quality, health centre staff in 132 facilities were trained in severe wasting case management and data reporting, completing CNF’s effort to upskill all health centres in six target provinces.
Screening efforts for wasting also reached more than 324,000 children under 5, with more than 10,500 children with severe wasting diagnosed and treated in health facilities nationwide. Through the Match Window, CNF support enabled the procurement of RUTF for more than 11,100 children with severe wasting, which is part of the country’s continued and consistent applications for match funding support from the CNF.
Cambodia is expected to continue its partnership with the CNF to build stronger, more responsive national systems that empower and protect families and children from the life-long consequences of undernutrition.
