‘Health emergency’: 15% of UK households went hungry last month, data shows

The price of a ‘reasonably costed, adequately nutritious’ weekly basket of food has increased by 24-26% in the past two years, the Food Foundation said. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Millions of people – including one in five families with children – have gone hungry or skipped meals in recent weeks because they could not regularly afford to buy groceries, according to new food insecurity data.

According to the Food Foundation tracker, 15% of UK households – equivalent to approximately 8 million adults and 3 million children – experienced food insecurity in January, as high food prices continued to hit the pockets of low-income families.