The UN says a quarter of the world's children under 5 have severe food poverty. Many are in Africa

KALTUNGO, Nigeria (AP) — The 9-month-old twins cried nonstop and tugged at their mother, seeking attention but also food. They had received little in the past 24 hours, and there were signs of deeper hunger in the heads too big for their tiny bodies.

“Not much milk comes out,” said their 38-year-old mother, Dorcas Simon, who struggles to breastfeed and has three other children. She laughed, as if to conceal the pain. “What will I give them when I don’t have food myself?”

Here in northern Nigeria, where conflict and climate change have long contributed to the problem, her twins are among 181 million children under 5 — or 27% of the world's youngest children — who live in severe food poverty, according to a new report Thursday by the U.N.’s children agency.

The report, which focused on nearly 100 low- and middle-income countries, defines severe food poverty as consuming nothing in a day or, at best, two out of eight food groups the agency recognizes.