Accordingly, 15,763 children island-wide are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the report read.

However, this is lower than the total of SAM children recorded for the year 2022, which stood at a total of 18,420.

Meanwhile the percentage of children aged under 5 who are underweight has increased form 15.3% in 2022, to 17.1% in 2023, with Nuwara Eliya recording the highest underweight percentage at 26.4%.

“Compared to 2022 nutrition month data, all districts except Vavuniya have shown an increase in underweight percentages”, the report read.