Millions forced to skip meals for an entire day in the UK, new study shows

Food insecurity in the United Kingdom has resulted in millions of people skipping meals for a whole day, according to new data. The report by the Food Foundationcharity showed that the situation has deteriorated in the past few months, and it was made worse by the cost of living crisis in the UK.

The crisis has been brewing for quite some time now with the supply chain getting affected severely due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine. It resulted in growing inflation which means that in the month of September, one out of five low-income families faced scarcity of food.

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The data further showed that 18 per cent of households were forced to reduce their food consumption in September while six per cent said that they end without any food for an entire day.

This is the worst food insecurity that the UK has experienced since the start of 2022 as food and energy prices continue to fluctuate. While the government has introduced several measures to address the problem, the situation continues to worsen for the most vulnerable families in the country.

Among the families impacted by food insecurity, the data also showed that children are having an extremely hard time. While demands have been raised to provide free meals to children from vulnerable families, the majority of primary schools have not implemented a proper system till now.

“The situation is appalling and getting so much worse. We call on the government to urgently extend eligibility for free school meals to all families receiving universal credit, so that support reaches the kids who need it most,” the charity’s chief executive, Naomi Duncan told The Guardian.