OUR TEENS ARE COMING TO SCHOOL HUNGRY, SAY 82 PER CENT OF TEACHERS

• British teens lose 51 minutes of learning per school day due to hunger

• Four in 10 teachers claim some parents simply can’t afford to give their teens breakfast before class

• Half the children surveyed attended a breakfast club in Primary School with just a fifth of teens making it to a morning club in high school

A shocking new study has revealed 82 per cent of teachers in Britain see teens arriving for school hungry every day.

Worryingly nearly four in 10 teachers, surveyed by Kellogg’s, believed one reason children in their class were hungry was due to their parents being unable to afford food for breakfast.

Nearly half of the 500 UK secondary teachers’ surveyed claimed kids aged 11 to 16 failed to understand why they need breakfast to help them learn.

The study also found teachers battling with hungry teenagers in the classroom were often left dealing with kids unable to concentrate (73%), an increase in misbehaviour (28%) or grumpiness from class members (34%) in the mornings.

When asked how many minutes of learning the average hungry teen loses a day, teachers estimated a shocking 51 minutes, that’s approximately 10 hours and 20 minutes* if they go to school with an empty tummy once a week for a whole school term.

More than one in 10 teachers believed this could have a long term impact on kids’ GCSE results, with 20 per cent believing one child’s hunger could disrupt the learning of others in the class.

A further study by Kellogg’s found nearly half of the 1,000 children surveyed had attended a breakfast club in Primary School, but only a fifth go to a morning school club to get something to eat before class at High School.

School breakfast clubs ensure children get something to eat before starting the school day so they can perform at their best.

Head of research at The Children’s Food Trust, Jo Nicholas, supports more healthy breakfast provision, said:

“Secondary education sees our young people maturing into adulthood, going through stressful exams and often choosing a life career path. All these things are hard to do when you are hungry and teens are often the forgotten age group when it comes to hunger.

“The survey results would indicate that a breakfast club for young people in secondary education, particularly those who need it most, would still be a wise investment.

“‘Like all other school food provision, breakfasts need to be healthy as what children eat now determines their future health.”

Breakfast Clubs have been shown to improve attendance, concentration and learning in children.

The research also revealed that around one in 10 children feel too ashamed to eat in front of their friends, potentially putting them off attending a breakfast club before school.

UK managing director for Kellogg’s, Dave Lawlor, said: “Kellogg’s has been supporting breakfast clubs in schools for 19 years providing funding, cereal donations and training to a network of 3,000 Breakfast Clubs across the UK.

“We would encourage our stakeholders to look at ways we can increase breakfast club support to help boost the provision from primary school to secondary school.”

ENDS

For more information on breakfast clubs, further research or the case study, please contact Kellogg’s Press Office on pressoffice@kellogg.com/ emma.lowe@kellogg.com or call 07909776617

Notes to editor:

Case study available.

Reference*: The calculation is based upon an average 12 week school term

Kellogg’s research by Censuswide survey consultants, conducted April 2016: 500 secondary teachers from across the UK.

Kellogg’s research by Censuswide survey consultants, conducted April 2016: 1,000 school children across UK, aged between 11 and 18.

Kellogg’s has been donating to school breakfast clubs for 19 years. In the last three years the company has donated more than 50 million breakfasts, as part of the Kellogg’s Breakfast for better days programme. This a wider global effort within Kellogg’s, as the company has committed to donating 1.9 billion servings of breakfast globally by 2025.