UNICEF on food scarcity in Yemen

(11 Jan 2017) LEAD IN: Malnutrition in Yemen continues to rise, with children bearing the brunt of the crisis. UNICEF says 1.7 million youngsters are not getting enough food with close to half a million suffering severe acute malnourishment. STORY-LINE: So little fat on these tiny limbs that the skin seems to just hang off. This baby is being treated for malnutrition at a Sanaa hospital - and he's not the only one. The ward is full of children who are starving as Yemen faces serious food insecurity. Food prices in Yemen have soared by 60 percent, according to a June-September report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is being used by international organisations to measure the problem. And the UN's children's agency UNICEF says children are suffering as the conflict continues. At a press conference in the capital, the organisation's Yemen representative Meritxell Relano says that 1,400 youngsters have been killed, more than 2,000 wounded and 1,400 recruited by warring groups. And she says the scale of malnutrition is "shocking". "At least 1.7 million have now moderate malnutrition and 462,000 are severely acute malnourished," she says. More than 10,000 people have been killed or wounded in Yemen's war so far, and 2.8 million have been displaced. The land-and-sea blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis' ground offensives have contributed to the deteriorating situation. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...