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One in eight pupils (13%) is not getting enough to eat in the school holidays, according to teachers who are worried by changes in pupils, such as weight loss, when they return to school in the new term.

Adrian Curtis, director of Trussell Trust Foodbank Network, said: “The holidays should be a fun time for families but this shocking study shows that term time breaks put an extra burden on the food budget of a third of parents in the UK - with 19% of parents struggling to feed their children three meals a day.

“These are sad statistics when children spend 170 days out of school compared to 190 days in the classroom.”

The survey of 1,176 teachers by YouGov for Kellogg’s reveals that 39% of teachers say there are pupils in their school that do not get enough to eat over the school holidays. Of this 39%, more than a third said they noticed children coming back after the holidays with signs of weight loss and more than three-quarters said they had seen a noticeable difference in their readiness to learn when they return for the new term.

More than a quarter of teachers (27%) believe that offering holiday clubs at their school would ensure that children get fed properly in the school holidays and 42% believe they would provide children with extra learning opportunities over the summer.

“School holidays are especially difficult for low income families whose children usually receive free school meals or support from breakfast clubs,” said Curtis.

“Many of the UK's poorest parents are deeply concerned about being able to feed their children over the long break, and many will be skipping meals to feed their children.

“Last year we saw foodbank usage in August increase by over a fifth (21%) compared to the same time in June, before the holidays began, and we expect this year’s figures to reflect a similar trend.

“On top of the existing work, foodbanks do to help families struggling during the holidays, we have started to partner with companies, like Kellogg’s, to pilot running holiday breakfast clubs for families whose incomes are stretched to breaking point.”

Kellogg’s has launched a pilot Holiday Breakfast Club programme to help families in need this summer. The clubs are held in a variety of venues including schools, community centres and foodbanks and provide the vital food and social activities that these children need in the holidays.

This is part of the company’s Help Give a Child a Breakfast initiative which aims to feed 80,000 families in need every day.

Jonathan Myers, Kellogg’s managing director said: “A staggering 85% of schools now have a breakfast club in term time and we’re proud of the role we’ve played by providing training and grants to set up 1,000 school breakfast clubs over the past 16 years.

“But, more can be done and that’s why we will continue investing in our Breakfast Club programme and explore new ways of helping struggling families such as supporting Holiday Breakfast Clubs.”