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Starving School Children...

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  1. #1

    Join Date
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    Starving School Children...

    in the UK.... and I'm sure many other "first world" countries.

    The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on hunger found there was a “deeply troubling” impact on children who had gone hungry over the holidays and returned to class “malnourished, sluggish and dreary”.

    It said the evidence it had received indicated that those children “start the new term several weeks, if not months, intellectually behind their more fortunate peers who have enjoyed a more wholesome diet and lots of activity”.

    The report said: “There can be no escape from the reality that in 2017, children in different parts of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are arriving back at school hungry and totally unprepared to learn after the holidays.

    “We have learnt of one young person who vomited during the holidays because their diet consisted exclusively of packets of crisps. Elsewhere, a group of children taking part in a holiday football tournament had to drop out of the latter stages of the competition, as they had not eaten a meal in the days leading up to the event. Their bodies simply gave up on them.”

    The positive impact on poorer children who attended free meal and fun projects during the holidays was stark, the report said. They “eat more healthily, undertake more exercise, demonstrate better behaviour, and return to school in a much improved condition than they otherwise would have done in the absence of those projects”.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/...er-report-says

  2. #2

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    And the comments section nails it. There is no excuse for poor parenting.


  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by jaykay:
    And the comments section nails it. There is no excuse for poor parenting.
    Of course, but what do you suggest as a solution?

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Poverty is a problem but many British people just do not eat well. The two combined makes for a disaster.

    A giant bag of rice and a tin of bins or even the Tesco Value bag of cereal with fortified vitamins are more nutritious than a packet of crisps and not more expensive either.

    When you routinely see children in prams drinking Fanta from a bottle, it's not hard to imagine that budget or not, these families not eating well.


  5. #5

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    Original Post Deleted
    I have an Oxbridge educated friend whose father was a military officer and mother a teacher, who told me she NEVER ate a fresh vegetable until she left home for university.

  6. #6

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    Jun 2011
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    Quote Originally Posted by civil_servant:
    Of course, but what do you suggest as a solution?
    Perhaps don’t have children if you can’t afford to feed them.
    mrgoodkat and jimbo like this.

  7. #7

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    Spent a month on an exchange program type of thing when I was 15/16 in Bath.

    Never in my life did I eat that bad. Absolutely shocking. It was middle class but a bit like it is said above....aside from Pizza, Fries, Beans and Bacon I don't recall what else I ate. Not to mention the liters of coke and other Fanta etc. I for sure didn't see any fruits or veggies served during my month there.

    I went as far as asking food from other people in the same program...at least a freshly made sandwich or sthg.

    I am sure this is not the same everywhere, and this is only anecdotal (and dates back) but still.

    HK_Katherine likes this.

  8. #8

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    It's all very simple, when you're a simple person like Edwina Curry

    https://twitter.com/Edwina_Currie/st...14206275293187