Children from financially disadvantaged families in Taiwan survive on an average of about NT$32 per meal, a Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) survey released yesterday said.
The survey, which gathered responses from 1,315 students in grades five through nine from April 22 to May 31, found that underprivileged families spent an average of NT$12,522 per month on food, the non-governmental organization said.
With an average size of 4.33 people, the families that were surveyed had, on average, a daily food budget of about NT$96 for each family member, TFCF said.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families via CNA
Assuming that each family member consumed three meals per day, that would mean only about NT$32 went toward each person’s meal, it said.
Of the children who participated in the survey, 484 came from families with five or more members, TFCF said, adding that 45 percent of those 484 families had monthly food budgets of NT$10,000 or less.
With a NT$10,000 budget, a family of five would have to spend an average of less than NT$23 per meal per person, it said.
The respondents, all of whom receive financial support from the organization, also answered questions about their eating habits.
While 75.2 percent of the children surveyed said that they ate three meals “every day or almost every day,” 13.3 percent said that they ate three meals “four to five days a week,” and 11.5 percent said they ate three meals three or fewer days per week.
The survey also found that 69.7 percent of disadvantaged children said they did not eat fruit or vegetables on a daily basis.
According to the survey, 62.1 percent of children said their parents were primarily responsible for preparing their meals, while 21.4 percent said it was their grandparents.
Twelve percent said that either they or their siblings were primarily responsible for preparing their food.
The respondents were asked to select from a list of options what their attitudes toward food were, TFCF said.
Thirty-four percent said they would “eat anything, as long as there was something to eat” — the most popular option, it said.
This was followed by 22.2 percent of respondents who selected “nutritional balance; fruits and vegetables must be consumed,” and 21.4 percent who said that “breakfast, lunch and dinner are all very important and must be consumed,” it said.
Asked whether they have ever gone hungry, 4.6 percent of children said “always,” 23.4 percent said “sometimes,” 42.2 percent said “rarely” and 29.8 said “never.”
The survey had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points, TFCF said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
RSS