SANA, YEMEN — Odai Saleh’s large, hollow eyes follow the movements around him lethargically and his emaciated, birdlike face expresses no interest in the toy car next to him on the hospital bed.

Nearly 5 years old, Odai weighs a mere 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds. A few weeks ago he was brought to the therapeutic feeding clinic at Sabeen Hospital here in Sana, the capital, suffering from severe malnutrition. He had been sick for weeks with vomiting and diarrhea despite treatment in Hamdan, his home village.

“Malnourished children like Odai are so fragile, they are like glass,” said Rajia Sharhan, a pediatrician and nutrition specialist with Unicef, describing the young victims of the worsening food shortage in Yemen. Unicef, which supports the clinic and provided the description of Odai’s condition, has scaled up its nutrition intervention program in Yemen over the last three months.

Odai is fortunate. Unlike many Yemenis, he is getting help and recovering; but aid agencies warn that the crisis in Yemen is turning into a catastrophe.