Three million children risk going hungry during the school holidays, putting them in danger of malnutrition and undermining their education prospects.
A report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on hunger has revealed that one million children who receive free school meals during term time are at risk of being hungry during the holidays.
The other two million children who go hungry when school breaks up are those who are disqualified from free school meals because their parents work.
The report pointed to an increase in the number of families with children using food banks during school holidays as evidence for their findings.
They also highlighted survey data which found a significant proportion of teachers and school staff notice children returning to school hungry on the first day after the holidays.
Frank Field, the chair of the APPG on hunger, said local authorities should be given duties to convene schools, churches, community groups, and businesses in their area to alleviate the problem.
He also recommended each council be allocated £100,000 from the sugary drinks levy to help them abolish school holiday hunger.
