Tue, Dec 24, 2019 page2

• Some children surviving on NT$32 a meal

  DISADVANTAGED FAMILIES: The Taiwan Fund for Children and Families said that 11.5% of the children interviewed only ate three meals three or fewer days a week

  • By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter
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  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.

  

  Taiwan Fund for Children and Families celebrity spokesman Ku, center, fund representatives and children present the findings of a survey about disadvantaged children’s nutrition in Taipei yesterday.

  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.
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