Malnourished children are taking food from school bins to stifle hunger, headteacher says
The IndependentGet the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Malnourished children are arriving at school so hungry they are taking food out of the bins, a headteacher says. “When children are food deprived it alters their behaviour and they do become quite food obsessed, so we have some children who will be stealing fruit cores from the bins,” the headteacher said. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ms Collingwood said: “We have children who have nothing in their lunch boxes and children who are just fixated upon food.” The headteacher said there were currently 35 children at her school whose families are supported by food banks: “It’s probably higher because they are the ones we know about.” Earlier this week the Environmental Audit Committee highlighted 2017 Unicef figures showing 19 per cent of children under 15 in the UK live with adults who struggle to buy food. Ms Collingwood said the hunger facing pupils was “heartbreaking” and she had seen parents arrive at school and burst into tears, saying they have no means of feeding their children.