Are we turning our backs on Ireland’s hungry children?

An eye-opening new report highlights the extent of Ireland's food poverty problem, with 33 per cent of families with children in primary school saying they worry about the the cost of feeding their brood.  According to Kellogg’s' Is the Food Divide Getting Bigger? report, published this morning, the food poverty rate among lowest income households is as high as 11 per cent. Despite signs of an economic recovery, lower income families are not seeing any improvement. More than half of teachers surveyed (53 per cent) have noticed children arriving at school hungry at least once a week. More shockingly, 77 per cent of teachers said the number of children coming to school hungry has increased in the last 12 months. [caption id="attachment_217910" align="alignleft" width="790"] 53% of teachers regularly see their students hungry[/caption] Half of the teachers also report that 36 per cent of parents have mentioned concerns over their ability to make their food budget stretch to the end of the week, while 20 per cent struggle to fund their family food budget over the weekend. One in five households with children has even had to change their eating habits due to financial constraints. June Tinsley, Head of Advocacy, Barnardos said parents often sacrifice having meals themselves to ensure their children are fed. She called for the introduction of more breakfast clubs to ensure children start the day on a full stomach:

"Arriving to school hungry affects children’s behaviour and mood impacting on their ability to learn and enjoy interactions with classmates and teachers. If hungry children aren’t given support to thrive it can also have a knock-on effect on the wider class.

Jim McNeill, Managing Director of Kellogg’s in Ireland said:

“Kellogg’s is committed to doing all it can to help to tackle food poverty and to support communities at risk. We have a track record of supporting over 120 breakfast clubs in Ireland, over the past three years, this is something we will continue to do to ensure that all families can get a proper start to their day.”

In 2015 Kellogg’s will be donating two million servings of cereal to children and families in Ireland through partnerships with Barnardos and Crosscare.