With the summer break nearing its end, a survey finds that teachers are very concerned that their pupils will not have had enough to eat during the summer holidays.
The research was conducted by Kellogg’s. It revealed a staggering 39% of teachers thought there were pupils in their school that did not get enough to eat over the school holidays. Over 10% of these teachers said that they noticed children coming back after the holidays with signs of weight loss. 77% said that this in turn affects children’s readiness to learn at the beginning of the new term.
These are worrying statistics, especially when children spend on average 170 days out of school, compared with 190 in a classroom.
The holidays are supposed to be fun family times, yet 19% of parents are struggling to feed their children three meals a day. The school holidays naturally put even more pressure on these families.
Adrian Curtis, the director of Trussell Trust Foodbank Network, spoke about the increases they were seeing in the use of their service. ‘Last year we saw foodbank usage in August increase by over a fifth compared to the same time in June, before the holidays began, and we expect this year’s figures to reflect a similar trend.’
‘School holidays are especially difficult for low income families whose children usually receive free school meals or support from breakfast clubs. Many are deeply concerned about being able to feed their children over the long break, and may resort to skipping meals to feed their children.’
‘On top of the existing work foodbanks do to help families struggling during the holidays, we have started to partner with companies, like Kellogg’s, to pilot running holiday breakfast clubs for families whose incomes are stretched to breaking point.’
Kellogg’s are working hard with their ‘Give a Child a Breakfast’ initiative. This aims to feed 80,000 families in need every day. Kellogg’s have been running clubs at various venues around the country in community centres, schools and foodbanks, to help provide food and social activities that these children need in the holidays.
Jonathan Myers, Kellogg’s managing director said: “A staggering 85 per cent of schools now have a breakfast club in term time and we’re proud of the role we’ve played by providing training and grants to set up 1,000 school breakfast clubs over the past 16 years."
We spoke to 30 year old Brighton mum-of-two, Leah Reed, about the report. ‘Like a lot of parents I’ve found it difficult, but it was just about prioritising things better. I have just had to cut back on the luxuries when the kids are at home for a few weeks. Feeding children is expensive but important."
So is there a solution?
More than a quarter of teachers believe that offering holiday clubs at their school would ensure that children get fed properly in the school holidays, and 42% believe they would provide children with extra learning opportunities over the summer.
Holiday Clubs and Play Schemes were fairly common 20 years ago, but they seem to have lost their appeal over the years. Would you use a Holiday Club if your child’s school offered one?
If you need help or want any more information just go to: www.giveachildabreakfast.co.uk
Do you know any children who go to school hungry? Could society be doing more to help these children?
