Daily roundup: Hungry children, mental health, and early years

Research commissioned on behalf of cereal maker Kellogg’s, shows that 28 per cent of teachers questioned have seen an increase in children being sent to school with no breakfast. The effect, the Lost Education report concludes, is a loss of education, with both primary and secondary teachers reporting that if a child arrives at school hungry they will lose one hour of learning time that day. The report says 2.4 pupils in each class are attending school hungry once a week meaning some miss out on eight weeks of teaching a year. Breakfast clubs - Kellogg's has helped set up 1,000 of them - can tackle the problem says the report.

One in five parents admit to not discussing mental health with their children because they don't want to "scare them". Research by Time to Change, a mental health anti-stigma programme run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, also found that parents were worried about starting a conversation as they believed their children would know more about the subject than them. The survey was based on a survey of 500 parents and 42 in-depth interviews with adults and children. Based on the findings, Time to Change will offer parents information and advice on how to talk to their children about mental health problems.