7.5pc Rohingya kids victims of acute malnutrition: Unicef

Preliminary data from a nutrition assessment conducted last week at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar shows a 7.5 per cent prevalence of life-threatening acute malnutrition - a rate double seen among Rohingya child refugees in May 2017, Unicef said on Friday.

"The Rohingya children in the camp - who have survived horrors in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State and a dangerous journey here - are already caught up in a catastrophe," said Unicef Bangladesh Representative Edouard Beigbeder in a media release.

"Those with severe malnutrition are now at risk of dying from an entirely preventable and treatable cause," he said.

Malnutrition rates among children in northern Rakhine were already above emergency thresholds. The condition of these children has further deteriorated due to the long journey across the border and the conditions in the camps.

The Kutupalong nutrition assessment, conducted between October 22 and 28, surveyed 405 households, including families who arrived there both before and after violence escalated in northern Rakhine on August 25.