People in South Asia are more prowen to face this situation, LBO reported UNICEF’s Regional Director in South Asia, Daniel Tool called the level of malnutrition "scandalous". South Asia includes Afganistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The region is home to 400 million people where over 75 percent live on less than two dollars a day.

Even a five percent increase in food prices will bring them to the brink of starvation.

The global financial crisis and a spike in fuel and food prices have left 100 million more people without adequate food in South Asia compared to two years ago, according to a UNICEF report Tuesday.

More than 400 million people face hunger in a region where over 75 percent live on less than two dollars a day, the document said.

Titled "A Matter of Magnitude: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Women and Children in South Asia", it blames the so-called "Triple F" factor, which refers to food, fuel and the financial crisis.

"The eight countries in South Asia have been shaken by the shocks and turbulence in commodity and financial markets over the last two years," the report said.

A sharp rise in the price of global fuel increased the costs of transport, freight, fertiliser and energy and eventually basic food staples such as rice, wheat and cereals, according to the report.

Daniel Toole, UNICEF’s Regional Director in South Asia, called the levels of malnutrition in the region "scandalous."

South Asia includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Inflation has had a sharp impact on rural areas, where those earning less than two dollars a day still have to spend up to 80 percent of their income on food, LBO reported.

"Even a five percent increase in food will bring them to the brink of disaster," said UNICEF economist Aniruddha Bonerjee.

Laid-off labourers returning from the Gulf and Southeast Asia face a double-whammy of a loss of remittances and little hope of employment in a region where a majority of people work in the agricultural sector.

Many families "have been forced into choices that one cannot accept," said Bonerjee, referring to parents pulling children out of school and sending them to work to put food on the table.

Noting that women and children were most vulnerable in any downturn, Toole said: "Their situation is generally getting worse."

Across the region, women are generally the last to eat, preferring instead to give what little food they have to their husbands and children, the report said.

Yet 50 percent of children in the region under the age of five are still malnourished, with those under the age of two the most underfed.

The drop in gross domestic product (GDP) throughout the region also means that governments have less money to invest in health, education and transportation schemes that UNICEF said were already being neglected during better economic times.

"When you had growth rates of eight, nine and in some cases 15 and 16 percent, we made no progress on malnutrition, on hunger, on including women and children in society. How are we going to do it now?" asked Bonerjee.

Between 1997 and 2006, South Asian countries spent seven percent of their GDP on health and education initiatives, compared to 20 percent for rich countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.