The number of households in Britain experiencing food insecurity has nearly doubled in the past year, affecting 3.7 million children, according to a new survey.
This January, some 22% of households reported their children had directly experienced food insecurity in the past month, almost double of around 12% in January 2022, said a report released by The Food Foundation on Wednesday.
The London-based group stressed that the cost of living crisis is having a devastating impact on children across the country, particularly those in low-income households and those at risk of food insecurity.
"This affects every aspect of their life from education, to their friendships and social development, to their physical and mental health, robbing them of their childhood," read the report.
"For example, in households with children who had experienced food insecurity in the past month, 78% reported being worried about the impact of being unable to afford sufficient food on their children's physical health and 76% on their mental health."
A national poll by The Food Foundation found overwhelming support for the expansion of free school meals.
According to the survey, 80% of people in England backed calls for the government to increase provision of free school meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit, an umbrella term for financial benefits provided by social services in the UK.
There are approximately 800,000 children in England who do not qualify for free school meals despite living in poverty, the report said.
Currently, children in England are subjected to the strictest eligibility criteria for free school meals, compared to other devolved nations in the UK, it added.
"This results in children in England being unfairly left behind because the UK government is failing to take the issue of children's food insecurity as seriously as the devolved governments," read the report.
"Northern Ireland's income threshold for eligibility is almost twice as high as in England and they are exploring options for expanding this further. Scotland and Wales are both in the process of rolling out free meals to all children in primary school regardless of income."
London's Mayor Sadiq Khan recently announced that all primary school children in the capital will be eligible for free school meals as a one-year emergency measure.
While The Food Foundation welcomed the decision, it warned that the move "further increases regional inequalities in England."
"The London initiative puts even greater pressure on national government to honor its levelling up commitment and eradicate the postcode lottery of access to free school meals across the country," the report said.
