Food poverty sees disadvantaged London children go hungry

A study by the University of Reading found 71 per cent of families supported by south London charity Kids Company said they sometimes or often did not have enough food to eat.

The research, involving a survey and interviews of 72 families with children aged five to 11, also revealed that 86 per cent described their food security as “very low”, and 13 per cent as “low”.

Food security is a term used by the World Health Organisation to describe when people have access to sufficient food at all times to live a healthy life.

Lack of money to pay for sufficient amounts or quality of food was a concern for nearly all of the study participants, with 94 per cent of households regularly worrying about not being able to replenish food and 92 per cent saying they often or sometimes could not afford to eat balanced, healthy meals.

Although, in most cases, parents said they went without food before their children, more than four-fifths said their children were not eating enough because they were unable to meet the cost, while 60 per cent said they had been forced to reduce their family’s meal portion sizes.