Some 17 per cent of pupils are entitled to free school meals, but only68 per cent of these took one on the day of this year's survey, a oneper cent fall on 2006 and lower than 1999.
Negative perceptions are a major factor, warned Andrew Girvan, directorof children's services at the charity NCH Scotland. "It is worrying thatso many young people entitled to free school meals are refusing them,"he said. "One of the reasons for this is likely to be the stigma thatcontinues to surround this issue."
John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland,believes the figures actually underestimate the problem. "A quarter ofScotland's children are officially recognised as living in poverty yet,according to the new statistics, only 17 per cent of children areentitled to a free school meal," he said. "The new statistics showmeans-testing leaves tens of thousands of the country's mostdisadvantaged children without a healthy lunch."
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