"Headteachers and senior doctors are calling for needy children to receive a free breakfast at school after a Guardian survey found almost half of teachers have brought food in for pupils who arrive at school with empty stomachs. Four out of five teachers (83%) see pupils who are hungry in the morning and 55% said up to a quarter of pupils arrive having not eaten enough. More than half say the number of children involved has been rising in the past year or two, which have seen some families hit hard by the recession, unemployment and benefit cuts." - M F

As expected there are plenty of comments by people who blame the parents. There is the school of thought that says parents should not have kids that cannot afford which obviously does not take into consideration that things can go drastically wrong after the children are born. Then we have those who think that the parents are lazy/buy cigarettes instead of food/buy a plasma TV instead of food which is completely anecdotal. I think that parents who are that irresponsible are a tiny minority, in my lifetime I've only met two but it was ok as they came from middle class families and they had the money to hide their recklessness. The point is whatever the reason it is unacceptable that children in the UK in 2012 should be hungry. End of rant. - M F

Everyone can afford oats - it's usually the time to organise breakfast they don't have/can't find (or afford). Schools certainly could offer toast juice and cereal - and could probably find food lobbies willing to push their own products (eg: milk) - Iphigenie

I find this an appalling indictment of where we are as a country :-( - Winckel