A million adults in the UK were forced to skip food for an entire day last month because they couldn't afford to eat.
The shocking statistic was highlighted in a report showing how soaring energy and grocery prices were driving up food insecurity as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.
Most adults who had gone without food were parents, who could not afford to put a family meal on the table, so went without so their children could eat.
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One in five families are facing a heat or eat dilemma, according to the Food Foundation think tank, which commissioned the report, cutting back on the quality or quantity of food in order to pay energy and other essential bills.
And Sam Gilchrist, of West Northumberland Food Bank, based in Hexham, said that the findings came as no surprise to her, as calls to the food bank's helpline showed that soaring cost of living, the end of the Universal Credit uplift and energy hikes are causing real hardship to local households.
"Since the end of the Universal Credit uplift and the energy hikes last October we have seen a huge increase in demand," she said.
"As of last week, we have helped 310 households, that’s 50 more than this time last year and a third of which are people calling for help for the first time. Many of them never thought they would have to turn to a food bank.
"We expected the impact of the UC uplift ending to have tailed off, but since January, our helpline team of 18 volunteers has been supporting around 100 households some weeks in comparison with any week last August where we could deal with around 65 households, and we have a steady flow of around four new households a week.
"Increasingly people just simply can not afford the costs of living these days no matter how much advice is available"
One of the food bank's users, 62-year-old Dave, who has a heart condition and is unemployed, told Chroniclelive: "I had £60 a month left after my bills were paid, then I lost £86 UC a month. I don’t know how I’m going cope this winter.”
"There is little doubt the cost of living crisis is putting very real pressure on the ability of many to afford a healthy diet and is set to widen health inequalities," the Food Foundation said in the report.
Gas and electricity bills will rise by an average of £700 a year from April, pitching 5m households into fuel poverty, despite measures introduced by the government to ease the strain.
Grocery bills increased by 3.8% in January, equivalent to an extra £180 a year on average.
Altogether, nearly one in 10 UK households reported experiencing food insecurity over the past month - defined by skipping meals, going hungry or not eating for a whole day because they were unable to afford food.
The Trussell Trust is the UK's biggest food bank network, supporting seven food banks in the North East, which together supply 53 distribution points.
According to Garry Lemon, policy director , the recent announcement of energy bill increases have sent shockwaves through the country.
"The Chancellor says he wants to help ‘not just those on benefits’, but in fact his measures risk missing the mark for people on the very lowest incomes, already facing impossible decisions between heating and eating," he said.
"A council tax rebate will likely not help people who already receive council tax reduction support and for whom the essential costs are already unaffordable and set to get worse.
"With inflation reaching a 30- year high, our social security system is at breaking point and essential costs across the board are rising rapidly.
"To truly help people hardest hit, the government must bring benefit payments in line with the expected cost of living this April, or risk pushing more people through the doors of food banks. This means increasing payments by at least 6% instead of the planned 3.1%."
