'Quarter of adults with at least one child cutting back on food shopping'

A quarter of adults with at least one child under 18 have cut back on food shopping, a recent study has found.

According to a YouGov poll commissioned by the National Energy Action and Food Foundation charities, about 28 percent of parents have also reduced the quality of food they were buying.

A quarter of parents with at least one child under 18 have reduced the quantity of food they buy to ensure they can afford other household essentials including gas and electricity bills, which are due to rise from Saturday.

Some parents facing soaring energy bills are also eating cold meals to save on power, states the study based on the survey of 4,280 adults, claiming that more than one in 10 parents had eaten cold meals, or ones that did not require cooking, to save money on energy.

Earlier this month, prime minister Liz Truss announced to freeze a typical household energy bill at £2,500. However, The Guardian reported that many households will still struggle to afford the new tariffs as they are nearly double the £1,271 average bill a year ago- an increase equivalent to almost a third of the amount a very low-income household with two adults and two children spends on food over the course of a year.

National Energy Action has forecasted that rise in costs meant the number of UK households in fuel poverty would have increased from 4.5 million from last October to 6.7 million.

Adam Scorer, the chief executive at National Energy Action, said: “People have had to choose between heating and eating. This winter millions will not have even that choice. The most vulnerable, including children, will be cold and hungry as energy prices spiral, despite government support.”