News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Four out of 10 parents in low-income households will skip meals in the summer holidays so they can afford to feed their children.

And 73% of parents earning less than £15,000 said they could not always afford food outside of term time, a poll has revealed.

The summer break, which starts today in most areas, spells hard times for families who rely on free school meals or breakfast clubs.

The poll for Kellogg’s shows “holiday hunger” also affects those earning under £25,000, with 62% in that bracket struggling to afford food out of term time.

One in twenty even said affording food in the holidays was a constant struggle.

Kellogg’s director Paul Wheeler said: “This summer there’ll be tens of thousands of parents going without meals so they can feed their kids.

“We are trying to help these parents by funding free holiday breakfast clubs across the UK. Those already open have proven to be a great success.

poll loading Have you ever skipped a meal to feed your child? 0+ VOTES SO FAR YES NO

“That’s why we’ve invited politicians from all political parties to visit the clubs this summer to draw attention to this issue and demonstrate that there is help available.”

Almost half of parents (48%) said they’d be likely to take their children to a free holiday breakfast club, while 78% agreed that such clubs could ease parent stress.

Lindsay Graham, Chair of the Holiday Hunger Task Group said: “We do not yet know the full scale of holiday hunger in the UK, but there are around 1.7million children who are eligible for free school meals who could go without that valuable daily meal this summer.”

To help families in need, Kellogg’s is partnering with FareShare, which provides food to over 2,000 charities and community projects including holiday breakfast clubs.

Lindsay Boswell, Fareshare boss, said: “This report highlights the extent of child hunger in the UK.

“We are definitely seeing more and more charities that support children turning to us for food.”