Hungry kids at school are not just from deprived areas, Dublin teacher says

A survey of 211 primary and secondary school teachers were by Kellogg Ireland found that 79pc of them said they have hungry children in their classroom every week and 40pc say it happens every day.

Some 73pc of teachers believe the problem has become worse in recent years.

Shane Loftus, Principal of Our Lady Immaculate School in Darndale in Dublin, said the problem is not just confined to deprived areas.

“We would have seen this for a long time,” he said.

“But now, just talking to colleagues working in more affluent areas, they’re now seeing it coming through in their [areas] as well.

“So, people are often calling me and saying, ‘What do you do in your school? How does it work in your school?’ And looking for advice on how to alleviate the problems in their schools now as well.”

A majority of teachers said that hungry children find it harder to concentrate and that disruptive behaviour becomes more common.