'One million' kids going hungry

A new report shows that two children in every British school class are going hungry as their parents cannot provide proper meals.

Carmel McConnell, founder of Magic Breakfast, told Daybreak that the charity is focused on delivering free and healthy breakfast foods to UK primary schools.

New figures released today, have revealed that a million children are going hungry on British streets.

Sally Copley from Save the Children told Daybreak that a lack of jobs and soaring living costs are creating 'enormous pressures on family finances'.

The Government has defended its record on child poverty.

• Around three-fifths of parents questioned said they thought it was because the family did not have enough money to buy the food they needed.
• A similar proportion said they thought it was because the family was buying low quality food as they were short of cash.
  

• More than half (55.4%) said that it was because a parent was abusing drugs or alcohol which meant the child was being neglected.

• A quarter of parents questioned said they were aware of children in their area who might be going hungry.

• Of these, more than one in four (27.8%) said they had seen an increase in youngsters they were concerned about in the last two or three years.

• Almost a third (31%) of those who said there was a child they were worried about said they had reported their concerns to someone in authority, such as a school.
• But 53.2% revealed they had said nothing because they either were not sure enough of their concerns, or did not feel it was their place.

Around one in four parents knows of a child in their area who may be going hungry, a survey has found.

The poll suggests that the problem may be getting worse, with many parents saying they have seen an increase in the numbers of youngsters they are worried about.

But it also reveals that many are reluctant to get involved, with more than half failing to report their concerns to the authorities.

• The new report shows that two children in every British school class are going hungry as their parents cannot provide proper meals.
• An estimated one million children around the UK are now suffering food insecurity - meaning they live in homes without enough food to eat

New figures released today, have revealed that a million children are going hungry on British streets.

Charity Netmums and Kids Company have teamed up to feed Britain's one million starving children.

A million children across the UK are living with "food insecurity", which means that they don't know where their next meal is coming from.

Kids Company and Netmums are asking people to hand in their mobile phones, so that they can be recycled and the money from that will be used to crack down on the number of children, not being fed. Click here for more information: http://www.netmums.com/home/netmums-campaigns/mobiles-for-meals