To wonder why so many children go without breakfast

[Sunnydays999]

Iv seen these adverts Kellogs are doing - it made me wonder why the situations so bad ?
Now I totally get some children won't eat breakfast - totally different .but not to be able to afford it on a regular basis ? Breakfast has to be the cheapest meal of the day. Not the best but value bread for toast is penny's ?
If parents can't afford breakfast what's happening with tea

Bacon I wish my dcs would eat pains au chocolat. I would LOVE an excuse to have some of them in the house. Yum.

1 in 7 isn't unrealistic in my experience of working at an infant school. That's only 4 in a class.

I've definitely seen at least 4 in a class coming to school without breakfast most years. We tend to give them their fruit snack and milk (if eligible for milk) on arrival at school where we know and if possible. And obviously we speak to the parents and it is recorded on their files as a cause for concern if it is a regular occurrence and nothing changes after speaking to parents.

'Of course, Frontier I just didn't like seeing the nasty responses to the person who mentioned breastfeeding, as they had a valid opinion, when this thread is full of vile comments about parents of children on FSMs (without merit, I might add).'

She didn't just mention breastfeeding, she used it as a judgement on mothers and society in general.

'It's hardly surprising providing breakfast is such a low priority for many parents when breastfeeding is seen as of little importantance to the majority of the population.'

I get very weary of those who pressurise and shame new mothers who don't breastfeed, or peopel whose children have FSM or claim benefits. It's point-scoring of an unpleasant kind. I truly think that it deters a lot of people from seeking help because they don't want to face those attitudes.

She didn't just mention breastfeeding, she used it as a judgement on mothers and society in general.

Really? And the comments previously about parents of children receiving FSMs aren't the same?

I get weary of people that are quite happy to trash one entire group of people while bitching that people should be trashing another entire group of people. It's hypocritical.

And don't be ridiculous. Breastfeeding IS seen as of little importance to some people. If you're going to try to score points here, at least be realistic and honest.

Haven't studies shown those on lower incomes are less likely to bf? So isn't she slagging off the same group of people?

Bringing bf into it is not a valid point anyway, I think the majority of people have said it's not necessarily down to finances anyway, nothing to do with being in recept of fsm

If you buy fags, booze and junk food and then say you can't afford to provide food for your child you are failing as a parent. Why is it up to the rest of us to carry those who just can't be bothered ?

Of course there will always be some children whose parents prefer to spend their money on fags, booze and junk food, but do you think the sins of the fathers should be visited on the children, then? Should nothing be done to make their rotten lives a bit easier?

And having been a poor single mother myself, I am not saying this to second the idea of victim blaming.

My DM is an English teacher in a private all girls school - she has taught 14 year old girls in the same school for 25 years and every year does a survey of what they eat, all 36 of them in the year group. It is ostensibly to teach them about report writing and how to precis but she also feels she has duty to inform them about diet etc. She has masses of data on eating habits and it is fascinating. In recent years she has found significantly fewer eating breakfast.

If you buy fags, booze and junk food and then say you can't afford to provide food for your child you are failing as a parent. Why is it up to the rest of us to carry those who just can't be bothered

Do you really think a happy, well brought up, capable parent would actively choose to put fags and booze above feeding their children?

To help these people we need to be looking at why they make the life choices they do and help break the cycle, instead of vilifying them.

I think 14 is different, I'd think the majority are choosing not to eat breakfast. I know as a teenager me and lots of my friends didn't, ds1 also stopped eating breakfast for a while as a teen

And exactly what dooing just said