Hunger in the classroom

On average 2.4 pupils in every class arrive at school hungry at least once a week, says a report produced by multinational food company Kellogg's.

The report explores the extent of hunger among schoolchildren and its effects on learning. It is based on survey research done by YouGov with more than 700 teachers in England and Wales.

Key findings

  • Around 8,370 schools (out of a total of around 24,000) are estimated to have children arriving hungry or thirsty every morning.
  • 28 per cent of teachers have witnessed an increase in children arriving at school hungry.
  • 31 per cent of teachers say they have to spend a disproportionately larger amount of teaching time with children who arrive at school hungry than with those who do not.
  • If a child arrives at school hungry, teachers say that child loses one hour of learning time a day.
  • If a child arrived at school hungry once a week they would lose 8.4 weeks of learning time (70 per cent of a term) over the whole of their primary school life.

SourceA Lost Education: The reality of hunger in the classroom, Kellogg's
LinksReport | Kelloggs press release | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Nursery World report

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